China Airlines B738 enroute on Dec 7th 2016, smartphone turns into heating device

Last Update: January 8, 2018 / 14:43:51 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 7, 2016

Classification
Incident

Airline
China Airlines

Flight number
CI-27

Departure
Koror, Palau

Destination
Taipei, Taiwan

Aircraft Registration
B-18605

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

A China Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration B-18605 performing flight CI-27 from Koror (Palau) to Taipei (Taiwan), was enroute over the Philippine Sea when a passenger's smartphone became hot and began to emit smoke. Cabin crew cooled the device down and secured it. The aircraft continued to Taipei for a safe landing about 4 hours after departure.

The airline confirmed the incident stating the phone involved had been a Samsung Galaxy S6.

On Jan 8th 2018 Taiwan's ASC released their executive summary of the final report concluding the probable causes of the occurrence were:

Findings Related to Probable Causes

- The battery of occurrence mobile phone could have developed short circuit during charging, causing high temperature within the closed space of the mobile phone, and subsequent burning and smoking.

Other Findings

- There is no evidence to show that the occurrence was relate to flight crew, weight and balance of aircraft, aircraft maintenance and the airworthiness of this aircraft.

- All cabin crew of this flight had been properly trained on how to put out cabin fire, they were also capable of extinguishing cabin fire; they were all quite capable of handling the situation of smoke coming out of mobile phone properly by following relevant procedures of cabin.

- The flight crew properly followed relevant company procedures in checking the origin of the fire and concluded, after assessment, that this aircraft could continue this flight safely. This complies with company procedures prescribed.

- The airlines should evaluate the necessity of equipping the on-board fire extinguisher auxiliary equipment suitable for lithium batteries fire.

In the brief abstract of the executive summary the ASC wrote: "On December 7, 2016, at 1811 Taipei time, China Airlines passenger flight CI027, a B737-800 aircraft, national registration number B-18605, took off from Palau International Airport for Taoyuan International Airport. During cruising, the smoke was found from a burn-out SMSUNG S6 edge cell phone which carried by a passenger. The aircraft landed Taoyuan International Airport safely at 2204 without damage. The passengers and flight crew on board were all safe."

The executive summary states:

On December 7, 2016, China Airlines scheduled passenger flight CI027, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registration B-18605, was from Roman Tmetuchl International Airport, Republic of Palau, to Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan, with the captain, the first officer, 6 cabin crew and 133 passengers, totally 141 persons on board. At approximately 1940 hours Taipei local time when the aircraft was flying over the Manila Flight Information Region at 38,000 feet, smoke emanated from a mobile phone while it was charging. The cabin crew followed the standard procedure putting out the smoke and disposed of this device properly. The captain continued the flight to the destination upon confirming that there would be no more safety concerns for this flight. The flight landed safely in Taoyuan International Airport at 2205 hours.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 7, 2016

Classification
Incident

Airline
China Airlines

Flight number
CI-27

Departure
Koror, Palau

Destination
Taipei, Taiwan

Aircraft Registration
B-18605

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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