Smoke fills aircraft cabin after phone charger catches fire onboard
A plane cabin filled with smoke after a phone charger ignited onboard a flight.
Panicked passengers covered their mouths with scarves and blankets after a power bank suddenly burst into flames in an overhead locker.
Thick smoke quickly poured into the cabin of the KLM Boeing 777 bound for Amsterdam.
A clip of the incident flight showed cabin crew walking up the aisles wearing smoke hoods while clutching fire extinguishers.
The flight, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, continued safely to its final destination.
Simeone Malagoli, who was on board Flight KL792 on August 7, said the journey was ‘one of the tensest’ of his life.
No injuries were reported on board.
Lithium batteries, such as those found within power banks, have been linked to several emergencies on aircraft.
Due to safety concerns, items containing lithium batteries, including laptops and mobile phones are banned from hold luggage, with passengers required to carry them in the cabin.
When a battery fails, it can undergo thermal runaway, a rapid, violent reaction in which one or more cells rupture.
This releases toxic, flammable, and explosive gases, creating an intense, self-sustaining fire that is extremely difficult to extinguish in flight.
Earlier this year, 176 passengers were evacuated off a plane in South Korea after flames engulfed the entire fuselage before takeoff.
Three people on board the flight on January 28 sustained minor injuries.
The Airbus A321 aircraft was operated by Air Busan on a flight from Gimhae International Airport, Busan to Hong Kong.
Authorities said the incident was likely caused by a portable power bank stored in an overhead bin which caught fire after the insulation within it broke down.
Metro has contacted KLM for comment.
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