What seemed like a small incident had far-reaching consequences. A phone battery caught fire on a plane in Denver, Colorado. This led to the total and rather chaotic evacuation of the aircraft.
Last Friday, a Southwest Airlines plane was ready to take off for Houston when a passenger's smartphone battery caught fire. The flames spread and a seat was also set on fire, the company said, reports “The Independent”.
108 passengers were then on board this Boeing 737-700 and the fire caused some chaos, with smoke quickly filling the cabin, according to the American press.
“We heard: Fire! Fire! And all of a sudden, everyone started to stand up, and that's when the panic started on the plane,” passenger Seth Anderson told CBS.
All passengers were evacuated as quickly as possible, with those in the forward direction filing out the door while those in the rear exited on the emergency slides.
Ultimately, crew members were able to bring the fire under control. The person with the phone that caught fire was treated for burns. Another passenger was slightly injured during the evacuation.
An investigation has been opened by the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, to determine whether the situation was properly handled. The FAA said that despite this event, the safest way to travel with cell phones is to carry them with you in the cabin, where personnel can respond if necessary.
Since 2006, there have been 504 incidents on aircraft in the United States involving lithium batteries causing smoke, extreme heat or fire.
