A passenger on a Regional Express flight from Lismore to Sydney got more than they bargained for when their iPhone 4 spontaneously combusted during the planes final approach for landing, filling the cabin with dense black smoke.
During Flight ZL319 last week to Sydney, a passenger’s iPhone started getting hot (nothing we haven’t experienced before) but, when it began to glow red, something was seriously wrong. The phone then caught fire filling the cabin with dense smoke.
“In accordance with company standard safety procedures, the flight attendant carried out recovery actions immediately, and the red glow was extinguished successfully. All passengers and crew on-board were unharmed,” said in a statement from the Airline.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of electronic devices catching fire, but it is the first time we’ve heard of it happening mid-flight. The incident has been referred to the Transport Safety Bureau and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for investigation, with the now broken iPhone handed over as part of the investigation.
Thankfully, nobody on the plane was harmed during the incident, but from the image shown above, you can see that the iOS smartphone came off a little worse for wear, with cracks and a hole left over after it combusted, glowed red and smoke poured out.
While the cause of the apparent combustion is still unclear, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority recently issued a warning over lithium batteries in-flight. The safety authority limits the carriage of batteries to two, with a requirement for them to be placed in separate bags to protect the terminals and the battery from short circuiting.
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