Passenger’s system catches hearth on American Airways flight

An American Airways flight was diverted after a passenger’s system caught hearth, creating smoky situations contained in the aircraft and forcing it to make an unscheduled touchdown.

The Philadelphia to Phoenix flight — carrying 160 passengers and 6 crew members — landed safely at Washington Dulles Worldwide Airport Saturday after the incident, which triggered a choking smoke odor to permeate the cabin.

Passenger Adriana Novello, 22, advised ABC Information she was jarred out of sleep when a flight attendant jumped on her exit row seat in a mad sprint to entry one of many cabin’s hearth extinguishers.

“Then I began smelling smoke, and lots of people on the aircraft had been coughing,” she stated. “However I appeared behind me, and what we may inform was that there was one thing on hearth within the aisle.”

American Airways Flight 357 was met by emergency responders when it landed round 11:50 a.m. Saturday, in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration, which didn’t specify the type of system that caught hearth.

“The system was shortly contained by crew members previous to touchdown,” American Airways stated in an announcement.

As devices like cell telephones and moveable battery chargers have grown extra ubiquitous, studies of them catching hearth throughout flights have elevated in frequency, the FAA in February cited a 388% surge in fires brought on by the gadgets over the past decade.

In February, an influence financial institution caught hearth on a Batik Airways flight from Malaysia to Bangkok shortly earlier than touchdown, filling the cabin with smoke, as a TikTok video filmed by a passenger confirmed.

Flight attendants had been in a position to snuff out the blaze utilizing cabin hearth extinguishers and a bottle of water.

In a comparable incident final winter, an influence financial institution exploded and stuffed a aircraft cabin with smoke throughout an AirAsia flight in Thailand.

Simply this week, the Journey Security Administration (TSA) added new gadgets to its “don’t pack” record — which may now not be carried in passengers’ checked baggage.

These embody curling irons or flat irons powered by fuel cartridges or butane — together with fuel refills. Nevertheless, corded variations of those gadgets are nonetheless allowed.