Narrative:

Prior to boarding; company gate agents informed the crew we would be receiving a wheelchair passenger who had a motorized wheelchair. They indicated the passenger would require aisle chair boarding. When the passenger came down; the a flight attendant (flight attendant) informed me she would be storing his wheelchair battery in the closet. I requested to see the battery as I was not aware any wheelchair batteries could be accepted as carryon baggage. Upon referencing the [hazardous material manual] discovered the battery I was presented with did not explicitly state compliance with crash fire rescue equipment 49 173.185. I immediately consulted my dispatcher who concurred with my assessment of the hazmat/dg (dangerous goods) situation. I then referenced the procedures for checking said battery; which does not specify compliance with the above crash fire rescue equipment.I informed the gate agent the battery was non-compliant; and upon her inability to provide necessary packaging material I went to the ramp to request assistance from the ground crew. A company supervisor was called; and we obtained tape and plastic bags necessary to isolate and package the battery to the requirements of the [hazardous material manual]. We took a two minute delay in order to accomplish compliance and the flight continued without any incident.I am filing this report for two distinct reasons. The first is that this item was sent down the jet bridge with no question as to its acceptability. Furthermore; upon speaking with this passenger; he indicated he flies on [company] flights weekly and has never had his battery denied acceptance as a carry on.the second issue I have is that I would much rather have a lithium ion battery intended for a wheelchair in the forward closet than stowed in a cargo bin protected only by a plastic trash bag sealed with a piece of duct tape. We now have means (heat resistant gloves/lithium ion containment bags) to combat a potentially catastrophic fire in the cabin. I understand the battery in question had not met regulatory requirements for in cabin air transportation; but shouldn't that make it more of a candidate for cabin transit?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-170 Captain and Dispatcher reported having a Gate Agent configure the wheelchair's lithium ion battery correctly for air transport prior to departure.

Narrative: Prior to boarding; company gate agents informed the crew we would be receiving a wheelchair passenger who had a motorized wheelchair. They indicated the passenger would require aisle chair boarding. When the passenger came down; the A FA (Flight Attendant) informed me she would be storing his wheelchair battery in the closet. I requested to see the battery as I was not aware any wheelchair batteries could be accepted as carryon baggage. Upon referencing the [Hazardous Material Manual] discovered the battery I was presented with did not explicitly state compliance with CFR 49 173.185. I immediately consulted my Dispatcher who concurred with my assessment of the HAZMAT/DG (Dangerous Goods) situation. I then referenced the procedures for checking said battery; which does not specify compliance with the above CFR.I informed the Gate Agent the battery was non-compliant; and upon her inability to provide necessary packaging material I went to the ramp to request assistance from the ground crew. A company Supervisor was called; and we obtained tape and plastic bags necessary to isolate and package the battery to the requirements of the [Hazardous Material Manual]. We took a two minute delay in order to accomplish compliance and the flight continued without any incident.I am filing this report for two distinct reasons. The first is that this item was sent down the jet bridge with no question as to its acceptability. Furthermore; upon speaking with this passenger; he indicated he flies on [company] flights weekly and has never had his battery denied acceptance as a carry on.The second issue I have is that I would much rather have a lithium ion battery intended for a wheelchair in the forward closet than stowed in a cargo bin protected only by a plastic trash bag sealed with a piece of duct tape. We now have means (heat resistant gloves/lithium ion containment bags) to combat a potentially catastrophic fire in the cabin. I understand the battery in question had not met regulatory requirements for in cabin air transportation; but shouldn't that make it more of a candidate for cabin transit?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.