The Federal Aviation Administration also warned passengers not to put the Galaxy Note 7 phones in their checked bags, citing “recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung” about the devices.
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At issue are the new phone’s lithium-ion batteries, which have burst into flames for some consumers.
In St. Petersburg, a family says their Jeep Cherokee was reduced almost to ashes after their Galaxy Note 7, attached to a auto charger in the vehicle, exploded.
Qantas and Virgin Australia both said they are telling passengers not to turn on the phones or charge them on flights.
Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for Washington-based trade group Airlines for America, said the group was “closely monitoring any developments as this issue evolves”. Samsung said it had found a problem with the battery in some of the phones. “An overheating of the battery cell occurred when the anode-to-cathode came into contact which is a very rare manufacturing process error”.
Samsung launched the latest version of the Note series in August. The Sept. 2 recall affects some 2.5 million units.
Although customers will still be able to bring the phones on flights on the Australian carriers, the ban extends to the phones being plugged into flight entertainment systems where USB ports are available.
The timing of the recall comes at a vexing time for the South Korean smartphone giant, which has always been in a fierce competition with rival Apple.
If there are already such big safety concerns, perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 just shouldn’t fly.
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