Phone battery causes fire on plane

Cabin crew from Dutch airline KLM had to extinguish a fire allegedly caused by a mobile phone battery on board the flight.

Flight attendants were battling to control the flames, which began in an overhead locker just after the plane landed in Bangkok at 10.40am local time (11.40am Singapore time) on Sunday.

The plane, which had departed from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was carrying 321 passengers, reported The Mirror.

A passenger on board the flight claimed the blaze was sparked by a lithium ion battery inside a hand luggage.

The passenger, who filmed the incident, praised airline staff on Twitter for their handling of the fire.

She wrote: "Well done @KLM for calm management of cabin fire on flight KL 875 caused by a battery in passenger's carry-on luggage."

She posted the video online and commended the crew for keeping passengers safe and not allowing the fire to spread.

The Dutch airline has confirmed it is investigating the incident.

Just last week, aircraft bosses had called for a ban on bulk lithium battery shipments on passenger planes, saying the threat of fires is "an unacceptable risk". Items which are powered by these batteries include mobile phones and laptops.

This article was first published on March 17, 2015.
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