Two people were injured on Friday after a Houston-bound flight out of Denver was forced to evacuate when a cell phone burst into flames before the plane had departed the gate.
Airline officials with Southwest say that the cell phone’s battery caught fire early Friday morning while the plane was still parked at the gate at Denver International Airport. Southwest Airlines Flight 3316 was forced to evacuate all 108 passengers aboard the plane. Passengers seated near the rear of the aircraft evacuated using the emergency slides, while passengers in the front deplaned normally.
One passenger sustained minor injuries during the evacuation and another, the passenger whose cell phone caught on fire, was treated for minor burns. A seat caught fire as a result of the burning phone but was quickly extinguished by crew members aboard the aircraft, Southwest Airlines said in a statement on Friday.
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Southwest added that they were in the process of finding other accommodations for passengers aboard the flight, which the airline said was bound for Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
While it is not known what type of battery caused the fire, most cell phones are equipped with a lithium-ion battery. Those are not frequently known to spontaneously combust, but if they do they are incredibly hard to extinguish. Federal Aviation Administration policy says that passengers must not pack certain lithium batteries in their carry-on or check back due to what is known as “thermal runaway.”
“Lithium batteries are required to undergo safety testing, all lithium-ion batteries are capable of overheating and undergoing a process called thermal runaway. Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of various factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged, or improperly packed. Thermal runaway can also occur on its own due to manufacturing defects,” the FAA says on its website.
“Spare (uninstalled) lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, including power banks and cell phone battery charging cases, must be carried in carry-on baggage only. When a carry-on bag is checked at the gate or at planeside, all spare lithium batteries and power banks must be removed from the bag and kept with the passenger in the aircraft cabin. The battery terminals must be protected from short circuit,” FAA policy states.
Passengers are always encouraged to pack any device with a lithium battery on their person or in their carry-on bag. Had the incident on Friday occurred with a checked bag, mid-flight, it would have been virtually impossible to extinguish the fire.
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