It can be annoying to deal with all the rules about lithium batteries on planes, but wouldn't you know it, the airlines actually have good reasons for those rules. A recent KLM flight just showed us one of those reasons after a power bank caught fire, filling the cabin with toxic smoke while the plane was still over the Atlantic Ocean, four hours from its destination, CBS News reports. It's the kind of thing you know in the back of your head could possibly happen, but at the same time, it had to be absolutely
terrifying to be on board while it happened.
The good news is, the plane itself didn't catch fire, and a flight attendant was able to put out the portable phone charger fire pretty quickly with the help of a fire extinguisher. The flight from São Paulo, Brazil, was also able to continue on to its destination in Amsterdam instead of rerouting somewhere else. So at least the terrified passengers didn't end up dealing with a massive travel delay in another country. The plane reportedly landed safely, too, and so far no injuries have been reported.
KLM has since issued a statement, saying, "Smoke was detected on board due to a burning power bank. The crew quickly extinguished the device, following established safety procedures."
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Real Dangers
This certainly isn't the first flight to ever deal with a battery fire on board. In fact, as CBS News reminds us, just last month, a battery fire forced a Delta flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to divert to Fort Myers, Florida. The flight crew managed to extinguish the flame pretty fast, but the residual smoke in the cabin led to it being declared an emergency. Thankfully, there were no injuries on that flight, either.
Lithium batteries are in pretty much everything now, making battery fires a much bigger problem for airlines than they used to be. In December of last year, the FAA reported that battery fires were up 388% since 2015, and just this year alone, there have been at least 35 lithium battery incidents on flights, and at least 12 of those were related to power banks. Following the rise in lithium battery incidents, Southwest issued a new rule earlier this year requiring power banks to be out in plain sight while they're in use. Meanwhile, NL Times reports that news of this most recent KLM battery fire led Emirates to ban using power banks on its flights. It's also important to note that KLM and several other airlines banned their use a while ago.
Generally speaking, inhaling smoke is bad for you, but the smoke from lithium battery fires is also worse for you than you might think. One study from a few years ago found burning lithium batteries release large amounts of hydrogen fluoride gas, as well as phosphoryl fluoride. So while you could probably find worse things to inhale, you also really don't want to breathe the smoke coming off a battery fire. I'd also be willing to bet you don't want to see any smoke at all while you're on a plane over the Atlantic Ocean, either, regardless of how toxic it is.
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