An American Airlines flight was diverted after a passenger’s device caught fire, creating smoky conditions inside the plane and forcing it to make an unscheduled landing.
The Philadelphia to Phoenix flight — carrying 160 passengers and six crew members — landed safely at Washington Dulles International Airport Saturday after the incident, which caused a choking smoke smell to permeate the cabin.
The fire caused choking smoke in the cabin. Adriana Novello via ABC News
Passenger Adriana Novello, 22, told ABC News she was jarred out of sleep when a flight attendant jumped on her exit row seat in a mad dash to access one of the cabin’s fire extinguishers.
“Then I started smelling smoke, and a lot of people on the plane were coughing,” she said. “But I looked behind me, and what we could tell was that there was something on fire in the aisle.”
The American Airlines flight had 160 passengers and six crew members aboard. GC Images
American Airlines Flight 357 was met by emergency responders when it landed around 11:50 a.m. Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which didn’t specify the kind of device that caught fire.
American Airlines Flight 357 was met by emergency responders when it landed at Washington Dulles International Airport around 11:50 a.m. Saturday. Anadolu via Getty Images
“The device was quickly contained by crew members prior to landing,” American Airlines said in a statement.
As gadgets like cell phones and portable battery chargers have grown more ubiquitous, reports of them catching fire during flights have increased in frequency, the FAA in February cited a 388% surge in fires caused by the devices over the last decade.
In February, a power bank caught fire on a Batik Airlines flight from Malaysia to Bangkok shortly before landing, filling the cabin with smoke, as a TikTok video filmed by a passenger showed.
Flight attendants were able to snuff out the blaze using cabin fire extinguishers and a bottle of water.
In a similar incident last winter, a power bank exploded and filled a plane cabin with smoke during an AirAsia flight in Thailand.
Just this week, the Travel Safety Administration (TSA) added new items to its “don’t pack” list — which can no longer be carried in passengers’ checked luggage.
These include curling irons or flat irons powered by gas cartridges or butane — including gas refills. However, corded versions of these devices are still allowed.
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