All these personal electronic devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries
An AvSax lithium battery thermal fire mitigation bag
A portable powerbank being placed inside an AvSax thermal containment bag
A passenger plane bound for London had to be evacuated after a lithium battery fire on board.
Passengers were boarding the EasyJet flight from Heraklion in Greece to Gatwick in the UK when a passenger’s bag suddenly caught fire on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
The fire was caused by the lithium battery in an e-cigarette or a powerbank going into thermal runaway as both were in the passenger’s bag.
The plane was evacuated while the airport fire service dealt with the drama.
According to the Daily Mail passengers described “a very large red flash and flame followed by thick black smoke.”
The Mail quotes an eyewitness saying: “Fire and acrid smoke billowed from the bag, popping exploding noises and smoke filled the cabin around the bag.”
The fire is the latest in a spate of lithium battery incidents on aircraft worldwide.
The Federal Aviation Administration in the USA has recorded 10 incidents between July 15, 2024 and August 14, 2024 – including two on the same day - and you can read full details on each of those incidents at Lithium battery fires now running at a very worrying 10 a month on aircraft … and that’s just in the USA (avsax.com)
Every personal electronic device you can think of is powered by lithium-ion batteries including mobile phones, kindles, iPads, tablets, laptops, portable power banks, vapes, e-cigarettes and Bluetooth earphones and headphones. This means hundreds are taken on board every passenger aircraft as each person will usually bring four on average.
When lithium batteries overheat or are damaged they go into thermal runaway and when this happens one cell in a battery overheats it can produce enough heat – up to 900°C (1652°F) – to cause adjacent cells to overheat.
The heat generated by chemical reactions inside the battery causes even more heat, leading to a continuous rise in temperature. This can result in the battery venting and releasing toxic flammable gases, exploding or catching fire and because they burn at such a high temperature they are very difficult to put out.
This is why many airline companies are now equipped with AvSax lithium battery thermal fire mitigation bags and they are now on board almost 17,000 aircraft globally and have been deployed in action dozens of times.
AvSax were devised in the UK by Environmental Defence Systems Ltd based in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, and are the most widely deployed thermal fire containment bags in the airline industry.
For more on AvSax go to https://avsax.com/
