Top aviation bodies have a plea for passengers: please, please remember the key safety rules when you get on a flight.
On Monday, a cellphone caught fire on a British Airways flight from London to Las Vegas.
In an audio recording published by The ATC App, the pilot tells air traffic control the fire “has scorched the inside of the cabin,” but it was under control.
A British Airways spokesperson said the flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally.
“Travelers, please keep rechargeable devices in your carry-on, not checked baggage,” the Transportation Security Administration posted on X in response to the incident.
“Follow your airline’s power bank rules, and if a device overheats or starts smoking, tell a flight attendant immediately.”
Power banks, cellphones, and laptops are all powered by lithium batteries. If they are damaged, they can rapidly increase in temperature and catch fire in a process called thermal runaway.
Passengers are told to keep them in the cabin so that, if a fire starts, it can be noticed quickly and extinguished by the crew, who are well-trained to handle such scenarios.
Aviation bodies have typically been more concerned about power banks, as some may lack the advanced circuitry that helps prevent laptops and phones from overcharging. This case, however, shows that all lithium-battery devices are susceptible.
‘In an emergency, every second counts’
The incident came just a few days after the International Air Transport Association, a trade group of the world’s biggest airlines, launched a campaign about another key safety issue: leaving your luggage behind in an emergency.
Titled “Save a Life, Not a Bag,” it includes a video that shows animated animals breaking rules that endanger others during an evacuation, accompanied by a David Attenborough-style voiceover.
“Passengers taking baggage during aircraft evacuations is not a new issue,” IATA said in its campaign announcement. “But videos and reports shared across social and mainstream media continue to show that the risk remains real.”
“In an emergency, every second counts. Yet some passengers still stop to retrieve luggage and film when time is critical,” it added.
“These actions can block aisles, delay others, and put lives at risk.”
In May, videos appeared to show some passengers taking their bags down the emergency slides when a Frontier Airlines plane was evacuated after hitting a person on the runway.
Flight attendants could be heard pleading with passengers to “Please leave all belongings,” and adding: “Your lives are more important.”
Aviation safety rules require airplanes with more than 44 seats to be able to be evacuated within 90 seconds.
Passengers stopping to retrieve their items can block aisles and exits, slowing down the process by minutes and putting lives at risk.
IATA said its research found that 80% of passengers said they know what to do in an emergency, but only 61% correctly said they should leave everything behind. In other words, nearly 4 in 10 passengers did not choose the safest action.
As well as rules related to baggage and listening to crew, IATA said that passengers should not film or photograph the incident, and should be prepared by keeping items like passports or keys secured on their person.
