Plane evacuated after phone catches fire upon landing in US

A passenger's cellphone caught on fire inside the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight from New Orleans to Seattle that had landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday evening, The Seattle Times reported on Tuesday.

San Francisco: An Alaska Airlines flight in the US was evacuated after a Samsung smartphone on the plane allegedly caught fire, the media reported.

A passenger’s cellphone caught on fire inside the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight from New Orleans to Seattle that had landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday evening, The Seattle Times reported on Tuesday.

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Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, which operates the airport, said the device was determined to be a Samsung Galaxy A21.

“After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition,” Cooper told The Seattle Times.

“However, during an interview with one of our Port of Seattle Police officers, the passenger volunteered the phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21. Again, we could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device.”

Samsung was yet to comment on the incident.

Nearly 128 passengers and six crew members were transported by bus to the terminal. There were no serious injuries associated with the fire.

An Alaska Airlines spokesperson told The Verge that the plane’s crew used fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag to “stop the phone from smoking.”

A Twitter user who was on the Alaska flight posted: “The passenger was 2-3 rows behind me on the opposite side. It was like a smoke machine. Flight attendants did an excellent job and all passengers were very calm. I believe one person sitting beside them might have minor injuries”.

According to tweets by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the passengers were taken by bus to the terminal,

“Earlier this evening, POSFD responded to a report of a fire in the cargo hold of Alaska Airlines Flight 751. Upon arrival, the fire was contained and passengers and crew were evacuated from the aircraft,” the airport tweeted.

“Passengers were transported by bus to the terminal, some with minor injuries. The aircraft was towed to a gate and there were no impacts to airport operations,” it added.