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According to Seattle’s KOMO News, passengers onboard Alaska Airlines Flight 751 from New Orleans to Seattle were evacuated upon arrival Monday night when a mobile phone overheated and produced sparks.
Emergency slides were lowered to evacuate the aircraft’s 128 passengers and six crew members. “Passengers were taken to the terminal via bus, with several suffering minor injuries,” Seattle-Tacoma International Airport tweeted. “The aircraft was hauled to a gate and no disruptions to airport operations occurred.” Later in the day, the airport stated that “a clarifying event happened in the airplane cabin” and that “just minor scratches and bruises were recorded.”
The fire began immediately after the airplane landed at 8:42 p.m. local time, according to FlightAware. “The crew moved quickly to contain the fire with fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag and deployed the evacuation slides owing to the foggy cabin circumstances,” an Alaska Airlines representative told Newsweek. “The plane’s passengers were all escorted from the aircraft. Medics greeted the aircraft to attend to the plane’s passengers and crew.”
According to Port of Seattle spokeswoman Perry Cooper, the passenger recognized the phone like a Samsung Galaxy A21. “After extensive digging, I can affirm that the phone was completely destroyed,” Cooper said, adding that his team was unable to determine the model based on the fragments.
On aircraft, cell phones catching fire has long been a problem, frequently occurring when the gadgets are dropped and caught on automated chairs.
Alaska Airlines installed fire containment bags on all of its flights in 2016 particularly to combat lithium-ion battery fires. The Hot-Stop ‘L’ bags are made of fire-resistant polyester and can withstand temperatures of up to 3,200 degrees. “When it comes to airplane safety, we must respond swiftly,” Alaska Airlines vice president of safety Tom Nunn said on the airline’s blog.