In late January, an Airbus A321 was running 20 minutes behind schedule as it prepared to taxi at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea.
Then, a fire broke out in an overhead bin.
The inflatable slides were deployed as all 176 people evacuated the Air Busan plane, although 27 of them were injured. The aircraft was destroyed by the flames.
Authorities later said the fire was likely caused by a power bank after its insulation broke down.
Since then, 2025 has seen such devices come under sharp focus for aviation safety.
Power banks, laptops, and phones are all powered by lithium batteries. They pose a fire risk due to a process called thermal runaway: If the battery is damaged or overcharged, it can spark a chain reaction and a rapid rise in temperature.
Two weeks after the incident in Busan, South Korea’s transport ministry announced a ban on storing power banks and e-cigarettes in the overhead bins. It also said they could no longer be charged using a plane’s USB ports.
Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Several airlines around the world have also introduced similar rules this year.
That includes Southwest Airlines, which did so in late May. One day later, a smoking battery charger caused a Southwest flight to divert an hour into its journey from Baltimore to Tampa.
But while the Air Busan fire appears to have prompted the wider crackdown, incidents involving lithium batteries had already become more common.
As of mid-December, the Federal Aviation Administration has recorded 80 verified incidents this year, and 89 in 2024. Before the pandemic, there were no more than 50 in any year.
That means it’s gone from happening less than once a week to around every four days on average.
One reason such incidents have become more common is simply that more people own more electronic devices.
However, airlines appear to be particularly concerned about power banks.
The growing market means that many of them are cheaply made and not properly certified. They may also lack the advanced circuitry that helps stop laptops and phones from overcharging.
Rising incident numbers prompted the FAA to issue a safety alert in early September. It recommended that airlines review their firefighting processes and their safety messages to passengers.
That includes educating travelers and ensuring their devices are kept visible and accessible.
This means that smoke or a fire can be spotted more quickly than if the device were in an overhead bin.
Even if you’re flying with an airline that hasn’t mandated it, it’s safer to make sure your device is visible while in use, so flight attendants can react if anything goes wrong.
Airline crews are well-trained in dealing with fires. Incidents recorded by the FAA this year have seen flight attendants handle smoking power banks with specialized containment bags, fire extinguishers, and by submerging them in water.
Taylor Rains/BI
If you notice your power bank swelling, hissing, or smelling like chemicals, stop using it immediately.
Australian airlines are the latest to introduce new rules, taking effect in mid-December.
It follows a July incident where a power bank caught fire in the overhead bin of a Virgin Australia flight. The plane landed safely, though one person was treated for smoke inhalation.
And in November, around 150 people were evacuated from a Qantas lounge at Melbourne Airport when a man was burned by a power bank that caught fire in his pocket.
While Southwest Airlines is so far the only major US carrier to tighten its power bank rules, other incidents indicate a heightened awareness.
This fall, two transatlantic United Airlines flights U-turned after a passenger dropped their laptop down the side of their seat and into the cargo hold.
Since the devices were inaccessible, crews might not have known if they had caught fire until it was too late. That’s especially risky while flying over an ocean with nowhere to land, so they diverted out of an excess of caution to retrieve the laptops.
Traveling by air has only become the safest form of transport since regulators have learned from different incidents over the years.
UPS Airlines suffered its first fatal crash in 2010, when a fire broke out on board a Boeing 747 shortly after departing Dubai.
Flight 6 was carrying more than 80,000 lithium batteries, which ignited. Thick smoke entered the flight deck, obscuring the pilots’ vision, and the captain passed out. With fire-damaged controls, the first officer was unable to direct the plane back to the airport.
In their final report, investigators made 36 safety recommendations. Regulators imposed stricter rules on how lithium batteries could be packaged and shipped, and banned them as cargo on passenger flights.
In 2012, the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization reinforced its existing ban on spare lithium batteries from checked baggage. The following year, it made clear that power banks also fall under this category.
As power banks continue to start smoking on flights, and since the FAA’s safety alert, it’s likely that more airlines will tighten their rules.
