B737-700
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
Passenger preboarded; came down on a 'Segway'. To me it appeared to be a hover board. I did question the Ops Agent; asked him if he looked it up; he said yes. He also told me TSA let them come through with it. I then asked him if he could show me. He then took the device and sent it down for cargo. I went to the Captain to bring it to her attention. I then started to look it up in my manual. I could not find verbiage regarding this particular device. Understanding it was a mobility device. Where it concerns me is Ops was not able to verify the type of battery in the device.
Female passenger preboarded the aircraft using an assistive device that appeared to be a hoverboard with a handle. The A Flight Attendant (FA) inquired about the type of battery powering the device and the passenger didn't give a conclusive answer. She responded that in ZZZ; the ground staff consistently checked the device as checked baggage and in ZZZ1; they allowed her to stow the device in the wheelchair compartment; which was what I desired to do for her. The A FA and I communicated this to the Operations Agent; who curtly replied that TSA allowed it through and that he had tagged it to be checked. He never communicated with us that he had confirmed the type of battery inside the device and he verified that it was safe for travel in the cargo hold of the aircraft. If he had indeed safely verified he had checked the device thoroughly; he should have been able to answer the question about the type of battery powering the device and communicated that information with both the flight deck crew and the Flight Attendants. It is my belief that a potential safety violation occurred here; and if not; then the Operations Agent needed to communicate the information to the crew in a manner that allowed us to be sure that the device in question was carried safely. We departed ZZZ with that device in the cargo hold; unsure what type of battery was down there.
Two air carrier Flight Attendants reported communication breakdown with Operations Agent regarding transport of battery powered 'Segway'.