Pilots say lithium battery cargo doesn't fly after fires. Are laptop bans next?

Could an exploding laptop or cell phone battery cause a plane crash? That's the contention of the Airline Pilots Association, the trade union for airline pilots in the U.S. The union Tuesday called for a ban of all shipments of lithium-ion batteries. Citing three incidents that occurred in the past two months, the union asked the U.S. government to stop all shipments of lithium-ion batteries on passenger and cargo aircraft pending a new set of safety regulations. The incidents took place in Honolulu, Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and involved smoke, fire or burning materials during flight.