A lithium battery fire on board a plane can quickly fill the passenger cabin with toxic smoke
An AvSax lithium battery fire containment bag
All these personal electronic devices are powered by lithium batteries
AvSax emergency thermal mitigation bags can prevent the need for passenger aircraft to make costly and disruptive emergency landings
The number of lithium battery fire incidents on passenger planes is now running at well over one a week, it has been revealed.
The Federal Aviation Administration has revealed there have been NINE incidents in the six weeks between March 2, 2025 and April 14, 2024.
In eight of them the problem was quickly solved by emergency lithium battery fire containment bags while the other caused major problems for the airline company.
The FAA only records incidents on American planes or aircraft in US airspace which means many more incidents will have happened in other parts of the world but are never made public. That includes the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK.
This means that since March 2006 the FAA has recorded 483 incidents – 201 involving battery packs, 100 caused by vapes or e-cigarettes, 63 mobile phones, 59 laptops and the rest from other personal electronic devices.
This is why more than 100 airline companies worldwide now carry around 17,000 AvSax lithium battery fire mitigation bags on board to deal with these emergencies quickly, stifling the fire and toxic smoke.
The AvSax won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its innovation, the highest accolade any business can achieve, and every time an AvSax has been deployed the aircraft has been able to continue to its final destination, saving the need for costly and highly disruptive diversions and emergency landings.
Here are the full details on the latest incidents.
April 14, 2024: During an American Airlines flight from Charlotte in North Carolina to Las Vegas in Nevada the pilot declared an emergency during an approach to Las Vegas. The source of the smoke was investigated by emergency personnel and was traced to a passenger’s e-cigarette battery. Emergency responders put the e-cigarette battery in a thermal containment bag and removed the e-cigarette from the aircraft.
April 6, 2024: During a United Airlines flight from Naples in Italy to Newark in New Jersey a passenger’s laptop computer began to overheat. The passenger alerted a flight attendant who placed the laptop into a thermal containment bag and the flight continued to its destination without further incident.
April 2, 2024: A passenger boarding a United Airlines flight at Honolulu in Hawaii to Denver in Colorado noticed their cellular phone was overheating. The passenger notified a flight attendant who placed the phone in a thermal containment bag and removed it from the aircraft. The boarding process continued and the flight departed to its destination without further incident.
March 28, 2024: While a SkyWest plane was taxiing for arrival at the gate in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, a flight attendant noticed smoke in the cabin. The flight attendant saw a passenger holding an e-cigarette and a broken cellular phone in the vicinity of where the smoke originated and the passenger was attempting to remove the battery from his cellular phone. The flight attendant could not determine the cause of the smoke so placed both items in a thermal containment bag. The aircraft continued to the gate without further incident.
March 19, 2024: During a United Airlines flight from Boston in Massachusetts to Houston, Texas, a passenger charging their personal electronic device dropped their portable battery charger. The flight attendant recovered the portable battery charger from the floor and discovered it was overheating. The portable battery charger was placed into a thermal containment bag and the flight continued to its destination without further incident.
March 14, 2024: During a United Airlines flight from San Francisco in California to Munich in Germany a passenger’s cellular phone fell below the seat and began to emit smoke. A flight attendant placed the phone in a thermal containment bag, and the flight continued to its destination without further incident.
March 13, 2024: During a United Airlines flight from San Francisco in California to London, England, a passenger’s cellular phone fell between the seat and the armrest. The phone was damaged when the flight attendant helped the passenger and moved the seat from the reclined position to the upright one. The cellular phone began to emit smoke when it was crushed so the flight attendant placed the phone in a thermal containment bag and the flight continued to its destination without further incident.
March 9, 2024: During a Sun Country Airlines flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota to Palm Springs in California a flight attendant’s duty-issued portable battery charger began to emit an odour and the flight attendant saw that the device was charred. The flight attendant placed the portable battery charger in a thermal containment bag and the flight continued to its destination without further incident.
March 2, 2024: During a Breeze Airlines flight from Los Angeles in California to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania a flight attendant observed smoke in the cabin and informed the pilot. The pilot declared an emergency and diverted to Albuquerque in New Mexico. The source of the smoke was investigated, and it was discovered that a passenger’s carry-on bag contained a portable battery charger that was emitting smoke. The passenger helped the flight attendant to remove the portable battery charger from his bag but suffered burns. The aircraft was evacuated upon arrival in Albuquerque and the injured passenger was treated for burns by emergency personnel. The portable battery charger was removed from the aircraft but it had also damaged the carpet. The aircraft was returned to service after a maintenance inspection. The flight continued to its scheduled destination the following day.
For more on AvSax go to https://avsax.com/
