A cell phone fire in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines plane forced the emergency evacuation of passengers after the flight from New Orleans landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday night.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident. The phone was reported to be a Samsung Galaxy A21.
“I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition,” Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper said in a statement to GeekWire. “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 said that a passenger’s cell phone overheated and began sparking shortly after the plane landed and was waiting for a gate.
“The crew acted swiftly using fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag to stop the phone from smoking,” a spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire. “Crew members deployed the evacuation slides due to hazy conditions inside the cabin.”
The plane was carrying 129 passengers and six crew members. Sea-Tac Airport tweeted that passengers were transported by bus to the terminal, and that minor scrapes and bruises were reported. Alaska said two passengers were treated at an area hospital.
An initial tweet said the fire was located in the cargo hold, but was corrected to the cabin in a subsequent tweet.
Earlier this evening, POSFD responded to a report of a fire in the cargo hold of Alaska Airlines Flight 751. Upon arrival, the fire was contained and passengers and crew were evacuated from the aircraft. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/rY2cFgrmUH
— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) August 24, 2021
Passengers were transported by bus to the terminal, some with minor injuries. The aircraft was towed to a gate and there were no impacts to airport operations. (2/2)
— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) August 24, 2021
One passenger tweeted that she was seated two or three rows ahead of where the phone caught fire and she said it was “like a smoke machine.” She added that the flight attendants “did an excellent job and all passengers were very calm.”
Cooper said there were no operational impacts to the airport.
GeekWire has reached out to Samsung for comment and will update this story when we hear back. In 2016, the consumer electronics giant issued a global recall for its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, saying that it found a “battery cell issue” after investigating reports of some devices exploding or burning while charging.
Update: Here’s a statement from Samsung: “At Samsung, safety is a top priority. We are aware of the situation and are conducting a thorough investigation.”
