Try our newest merchandise
Emergency touchdown in Shanghai highlights rising risks of lithium battery fires aboard plane as aviation trade grapples with surge in thermal runaway incidents.
Passengers aboard Air China Flight CA139 witnessed scenes of terror and heroism at cruising altitude when a lithium battery immediately burst into flames in an overhead bin, forcing an emergency diversion and highlighting the escalating risk of transportable electronics aboard business plane.
The Airbus A321, carrying 170 passengers and crew from Hangzhou to Seoul on October 18, 2025, was flying at 33,000 ft when vacationers heard what one passenger described as a “loud pop” earlier than vivid flames erupted from an overhead storage compartment, filling the cabin with thick black smoke and the acrid scent of burning electronics.
Panic Turns to Heroism
Video footage that has since gone viral on social media reveals the terrifying second when flames shot from the overhead bin as passengers sitting straight beneath seemed up in horror. What might have been a catastrophic catastrophe was averted by the swift actions of the cabin crew and passengers.
“Two flight attendants sprinted down the aisle carrying hearth extinguishers whereas others shouted for vacationers to stay seated,” with passengers and crew working collectively to extinguish the blaze utilizing halon hearth extinguishers. The dramatic footage reveals at the very least one passenger helping crew members in combating the flames that have been capturing from the storage compartment.
Captain and crew instantly declared an emergency and diverted the plane to Shanghai Pudong Worldwide Airport, the place it landed safely roughly 40 minutes after the incident started. Due to the speedy response of the cabin crew, the fireplace was extinguished in minutes, and all 100 seventy passengers and crew members landed safely.
The Rising Lithium Battery Menace
Air China confirmed in a press release that “a lithium battery spontaneously ignited in a passenger’s carry-on baggage saved within the overhead bin,” with the crew instantly dealing with the scenario in accordance with procedures. The incident represents a textbook case of what aviation consultants name “thermal runaway,” a harmful situation the place lithium-ion batteries quickly overheat and may explode into flames.
“Thermal runaway is basically a situation the place the battery begins to launch power in an uncontrolled method,” explains hearth security knowledgeable Robert Ochs from the FAA’s technical middle. “In probably the most excessive instances, it may end up in smoke, hearth, and even explosion”.
The Air China incident is a part of an alarming development. Aviation trade information reveals that 2024 noticed a median of two thermal runaway incidents reported by airways per week, with 18% of cabin incidents forcing diverted landings, returns to gate, emergency evacuations, or unplanned deplanings.
In response to the FAA, the variety of lithium-ion battery fires jumped greater than 42% within the final 5 years, with incidents of overheated lithium batteries inflicting smoke, hearth, or excessive warmth on plane now occurring at a median price of a couple of per week.
Why Batteries Turn out to be Flying Hearth Bombs
The units that energy our linked lives, smartphones, laptops, tablets, transportable chargers, and vaping units, all comprise lithium-ion batteries that may change into harmful projectiles when broken or improperly saved. Vacationers carry a median of 4 lithium-powered units on board each time they fly, creating tens of millions of potential hearth sources within the skies each day.
Thermal runaway “leads to a speedy improve of battery cell temperature and stress, accompanied by the discharge of flammable gasoline. These flammable gases will typically be ignited by the battery’s excessive temperature, leading to a fireplace”. The method usually begins with exterior elements like overcharging, overheating, mechanical harm, or compression, precisely the form of stress that may happen when baggage shifts in overhead bins throughout flight.
“Most cases of thermal runaway are proprietor induced by dropping or considerably damaging their digital machine,” stated retired airline pilot John Cox. One other main trigger is using grey market charging units that lack correct security certifications.
The Problem of Combating Fires within the Sky
What makes lithium battery fires notably harmful aboard plane is how tough they’re to extinguish and comprise. FAA testing reveals that even after crews use halon hearth extinguishers, customary tools on planes, “that’s not going to cease, and that fireplace will reignite with a lithium battery”.
The really useful protocol requires flight attendants to not solely use hearth extinguishers however to “begin pouring on that machine” water and “non-alcoholic liquids, every little thing that they’ll get” from galley carts to chill the battery and stop re-ignition.
The fires additionally emit poisonous fumes together with “hydrogen fluoride, methyl carbonate, ethylene carbonate, carbon monoxide, carbon sulfide and phosphoryl fluoride,” creating extra well being hazards within the confined plane cabin.
For passengers, the psychological impression is extreme. Survey information reveals {that a} main thermal runaway incident would lead 46% of passengers to keep away from touring with an airline and 28% to by no means fly that airline once more.
What Passengers Ought to Know
Aviation security consultants advocate a number of precautions for vacationers:
Machine Care:
- Hold units with you throughout flight quite than storing them in overhead bins
- By no means use broken batteries exhibiting swelling, cracks, or different seen harm
- Use solely manufacturer-approved chargers and cables
- Flip off units utterly when stowing them
- If a tool is dropped right into a seat, get crew help earlier than adjusting the seat
Fast Response:
- Alert flight attendants instantly if any machine feels scorching, emits smoke, or reveals indicators of injury
- By no means try and retrieve a broken machine from tight areas
- Hold spare batteries in carry-on baggage solely, by no means in checked baggage
“A lithium battery hearth on the bottom is harmful sufficient, at 30,000 ft it may be a disaster”, warns aviation security knowledgeable Ali Marootian.
The Aftermath and Future Prevention
Following the emergency touchdown, passengers have been accommodated in Shanghai and supplied with refreshments and different connections to Seoul, with Air China arranging a alternative Airbus A321 to move vacationers to their remaining vacation spot later within the afternoon.
The CAAC briefly grounded the affected plane pending inspection of the cabin’s electrical programs and overhead bin meeting, whereas persevering with its investigation with concentrate on implementing preventative measures and strengthening oversight of transportable electronics carried on flights.
The incident serves as a stark reminder that in our more and more linked world, the units that preserve us plugged in can doubtlessly put us in peril. As one aviation knowledgeable famous, “Anytime that there’s a fireplace on an airplane, it’s a critical concern, and motion needs to be taken instantly as a result of there is no such thing as a escape”.
For the 170 passengers who skilled this harrowing flight, fast pondering by crew and fellow vacationers turned what might have been a tragedy right into a testomony to emergency preparedness and human cooperation within the face of hazard. However their expertise additionally underscores the pressing want for continued vigilance as tens of millions of lithium-powered units take to the skies on daily basis.
