IndiGo flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru faced scary situation when a personal electronic device (PED) produced smoke after catching fire and the airline crew had to spray fire extinguishers mid-flight.
The incident happened on flight 6E-445 (VT-IGV) when passengers complained burning smell from black bag and notified the crew staff who discovered minor sparks coming from the hat-rack. The airline crew relocated passengers from nearby seats and as a caution the laptop was kept in a container filled with water till the plane landed.
“IndiGo crew operating flight 6E-445 from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru noticed the smoke smell in the cabin on November 11, 2017. The crew quickly identified minor sparks coming from the hat-rack of seat 24RH and immediately informed the pilot-in-command. Taking precautionary measures, the cabin crew on priority relocated all passengers from adjacent seats,” the report quoted an IndiGo spokesperson.
The flight had a safe landing and passengers were disembarked as per procedure. The incident has been informed by airline to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“We are thankful to passengers for their cooperation extended to the crew on board. At IndiGo, safety is of the utmost priority and at no time it can be compromised,” the airline added.
Same incident happened in last month. A mobile phone caught fire mid-air on Delhi-Indore flights of another airline.
The DGCA had some years back put in place a standard operating procedure to handle such situations. Crew are now trained to immediately spray fire extinguisher on the bag from which smoke is emanating and handle such situation accordingly.
Many international aviation agencies are considering banning personal electronic devices in Check in bags.
