A Samsung Note 2 smartphone caught fire in an IndiGo aircraft coming in to land in Chennai from Singapore on Friday morning. The aircraft landed safely.
The airline said in a statement that some passengers had noticed the smell of smoke in the cabin and immediately alerted the cabin crew. The crew members then noticed smoke coming from an overhead bin and had to use a fire extinguisher to douse it, sources said. “It was not fire, but smoke and spark,” IndiGo sources said.
“The crew quickly identified minor smoke coming from the hat-rack of seat 23 C and simultaneously informed the Pilot-in-Command who further alerted the Air Traffic Controller of the situation on board. Taking the precautionary measure, the cabin crew on priority relocated all passengers on other seats, and further observed smoke being emitted from a Samsung Note 2 which was placed in the baggage (of a passenger) in the overhead bin,” the airline statement adds.
IndiGo added that the crew discharged the fire extinguisher as laid down as part of the Standard Operating Procedures prescribed by the aircraft manufacturer, and quickly transferred the Samsung Note 2 into a container filled with water in the lavatory.
Following the incident the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) called in Samsung officials on Monday.
DGCA has also advised the airline to make an announcement on every flight asking passengers to switch off their Samsung Notes on flights.
Earlier this month, the DGCA had issued a public notice advising “travellers not to turn on or charge” the Galaxy Note 7 phone on board an aircraft. The public order also advised travellers not “to stow them in any checked-in baggage”.
The DGCA notice was issued in “the light of ... battery issues with ... Galaxy Note 7 devices globally.”
“We are in touch with relevant authorities to gather more information, and are looking into the matter,” a Samsung spokesperson said on Friday evening.