The Director General of Civil Aviation on Monday asked passengers to not carry models of 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops, for which Apple had issued a safety risk, PTI reported. The company had released a statement on June 20, listing threats posed by the laptops due to overheating of batteries, and had issued a “voluntary recall” of the models.

“Consequent upon the recall of a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops by Apple Inc [sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017] due to fears that their batteries may overheat and pose a safety risk, DGCA requests all air passengers not to fly with the affected models either as hand-baggage or checked-in baggage until the battery has been verified/certified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar said in a statement.

Apple had said in its statement that it would replace the batteries of those devices that were affected due to this. “Apple has determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk,” the statement read. “Affected units were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 and product eligibility is determined by the product serial number.”

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the American Federal Aviation have also asked airlines to take measures to prevent untoward incidents, according to The Times of India. Following this, several international airlines have banned the laptops on their flights.

Singapore Airlines also issued a statement that asked passengers to not carry the affected laptops in their hand baggage or checked-in luggage unless “the battery has been verified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer”. Thai Airways has also banned the model, which it said was according to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency regulations, The Indian Express reported.

Apple said that MacBook Pro owners would be able to check if their laptops were affected through their device’s serial number on the website. The last time a device was banned from all airlines was the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which had similar problems of overheated batteries.

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