A Samsung Note 2 smartphone caught fire and emitted fumes in the overhead storage compartment inside the cabin of a Chennai-bound IndiGo flight in mid air on Friday, causing a scare among the 175 passengers on board the flight from Songapore.
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In a news release, Indi-Go said some passengers on its flight 6E-054 from Singapore noticed smoke and smell in the cabin and alerted the cabin crew. The staffs of IndiGo found the smoke to be sourced from the hat-rack of seat 23C which has a Samsung note 2, placed in the baggage of a passenger in the overhead bin. “The aircraft made a normal landing at Chennai airport”.
A Samsung spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving one of our devices”.
Other aviation regulators, such as the European Aviation Safety Agency, and airlines in several countries, including the United States and China, have already issued warnings to plane passengers to keep Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones turned off and unplugged during flights. “We are in touch with authorities and are looking into the matter”, a Samsung spokesperson said. Samsung company officials have been summoned by the DGCA on Monday. DGCA briefed the incident saying that the airlines crew put off the smoke using a fire extinguisher.
The exploding Galaxy Note 2 in question is now being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). While the issues of Note 7 causing fire and blast are still dominating the Korean giant, another episode has dragged the organization into a risky predicament.
The smartphone will be further examined by the departments concerned.
Samsung electronics has confirmed that approximately half a million Galaxy Note 7 handsets – affected by a potential battery-explosion issue – have been replaced in the US. “IndiGo has voluntarily informed the DGCA”. “Passengers have also been advised not to stow them in their checked in baggage”.
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The new Note 7 is expected to hit the Indian market around September 28-30, with the Korean company looking to bring it ahead of the local launch of Apple’s iPhone 7 on October 7, ET had reported this week.
