At least four people were injured as a result of a laptop battery catching fire in the passenger compartment of United Airlines flight 2664, according to CBS News. On Tuesday morning, the passenger plane was making a domestic flight to the United States on the route San Diego – Newark. The fire was neutralized, and the injured were hospitalized.
The plane was headed to Liberty International Airport (Newark, New Jersey), but due to an emergency on board, it had to return to San Diego International Airport shortly after takeoff. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Boeing 737 landed at the California airport around 7:30 a.m. PT after the flight crew “reported a laptop flash in the cabin.” According to the media, the bag with the laptop belonged to a first-class passenger.
The San Diego Fire Department confirmed that an “external battery” was the cause of the fire. The carrier’s statement specified that the battery “fired up”, but did not specify the cause of the incident. According to the department, the flight crew used fire extinguishers and then placed the burning object in a fire bag to prevent the fire from spreading. This saved the board from the further spread of flames and smoke. “We thank our crew for their quick actions that put the safety of everyone on board the plane first,” United said in a statement. Shortly after landing, passengers began to tell on their pages on social networks that the cabin was full of smoke, and some companions were “gasping and screaming”, panic started in the cabin.
Due to the smoke and fire, four flight attendants were injured and taken to UC San Diego Hospital “as a precaution,” the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department also reported on its social media pages. Two more tourists refused hospitalization. All other passengers and crew members on board the aircraft underwent initial screening. Delayed travelers were on the next flight to New Jersey around 11:45 a.m. The FAA is investigating the incident.
Reference: Lithium-ion batteries, widely used in modern household electronics, overheat and cause fires. Airlines allow them to be carried in hand luggage, but not in the hold. Household batteries in 99% of cases of this type are afraid of frost below -20°C and heat above +60°C.
Earlier in December, a Lufthansa passenger plane en route from Los Angeles (USA) to Germany made an emergency landing in Chicago due to a laptop that caught fire. That same month, passengers on a US low-cost JetBlue flight from Barbados to New York were evacuated at their destination after a fire that may have started from a battery, authorities said. Then more than 160 tourists went down the emergency ladders, five were slightly injured. The most large-scale in terms of its consequences, an aircraft ignition due to a lithium-ion battery installed in an electric bicycle happened in November of last year in New York. As a result of the fire, more than 30 people were injured.