Samsung phone caught fire causing the plane to be evacuated

According to information from The Seattle Times, an Alaska Airlines flight from New Orleans to Seattle was evacuated Monday night after a smartphone caught fire.

Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, said the smartphone was the Samsung Galaxy A21. “The phone was burned to the point of being unrecognizable. However, the passenger confirmed that it was a Samsung Galaxy A21,” Cooper said in an email to The Seattle Times .

Samsung Galaxy A21

Although the fire was extinguished with a fire extinguisher and a specialized battery bag, the amount of smoke released forced the crew to deploy evacuation slides. The flight landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and both 128 passengers and 6 crew members were transported by bus to the terminal. No one was seriously injured, but two people were hospitalized.

On Twitter, a passenger on the flight named Maddy Harrison said that the phone caught fire “like a smoking machine.” He also praised the flight crew for the professional handling of the incident.

Passengers were evacuated after the incident (photo: Kevin Ko)

It’s not uncommon for a phone to catch fire or explode due to the battery, but it does remind users of Samsung’s traumatic 2016 incident with the Galaxy Note7. At that time, the Galaxy Note7 encountered a series of battery problems, causing Samsung to recall and then kill this model. Airlines have also banned passengers from bringing the Galaxy Note7 on board.

However, there is no evidence that the Galaxy A21 is facing a similar problem, at least for now.