Alaska Airlines flight evacuated after Samsung Galaxy smartphone combusts

A Samsung Galaxy smartphone reportedly caught fire on an Alaska Airlines flight in Seattle on Monday, prompting the evacuation of passengers in an incident reminiscent of a fiasco involving a Galaxy Note 7 device in 2016.

The Samsung handset in question, a Galaxy A21, caught fire in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight that had landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from New Orleans, reports The Seattle Times. Perry Cooper, spokesman for the Port of Seattle, identified the device in a statement.

"After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition," Cooper said. "However, during an interview with one of our Port of Seattle Police officers, the passenger volunteered the phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21. Again, we could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device."

Alaska Airlines personnel used fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag to "stop the phone from smoking," the airline told The Verge. Conditions in the plane's cabin prompted use of evacuation slides, with two passengers later treated at a local hospital, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson said.

No serious injuries were sustained during the event, according to a tweet from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. A total of 128 passengers and six crew members were taken by bus to the airport's terminal, another tweet said.

It's been five years since Samsung issued a global recall for its Galaxy Note 7 device after widespread reports of battery fires and explosions. One such incident saw the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines flight in October 2016.

Whether the Galaxy A21 fire is an isolated incident or indicative of a manufacturing defect is unclear.

Apple, too, has dealt with problems related iPhone battery fires, though cases are exceedingly rare.

13 Comments

chadbag 13 Years · 2029 comments

About 3 years ago

If they used the “battery containment bag” with it I wonder why they used slides to evacuate. Just open the doors and remove the bag from the plane. (Won’t claim to be an expert but I do have large Lithium ion batteries for RC and have some “battery containment bags” on hand. (Never needed one though).

ITGUYINSD 5 Years · 550 comments

Wonder if the two passengers that were hospitalized were injured by the battery or the trip down the slide?
Evacuation seems a bit extreme to me.

eightzero 14 Years · 3148 comments

ITGUYINSD said:

Wonder if the two passengers that were hospitalized were injured by the battery or the trip down the slide?
Evacuation seems a bit extreme to me.

Hindsight is 20:50. Trust me - when there's a confirmed fire on board an aircraft, there is a procedure, and the captain gives orders. Disobey at your peril.

I'd sort of be interested in the nature of the injuries too. Curious if the injuries were from the trip down the slide...with their carryons.

eightzero said:

ITGUYINSD said:

Wonder if the two passengers that were hospitalized were injured by the battery or the trip down the slide?
Evacuation seems a bit extreme to me.

Hindsight is 20:50. Trust me - when there's a confirmed fire on board an aircraft, there is a procedure, and the captain gives orders. Disobey at your peril.

I'd sort of be interested in the nature of the injuries too. Curious if the injuries were from the trip down the slide...with their carryons.

The smoldering fire was inside the batter containment bag (once placed inside). Yes, obey the captain. However, the captain probably over reacted since the “fire” was contained inside a device meant for that purpose. I was not there but based on the description and my limited knowledge of much larger lithium ion batteries and such containment bags.

genovelle 16 Years · 1481 comments

Why evacuate?! There was a device on a confined plane with jet fuel that is actively burning and filled the cabin with toxic fumes. If this actually turned out to be a chemical bomb it could have been much worse than a phone burned beyond recognition