This won’t be the first time for a power bank to cause fire on a flight.
The recent incident of an Air Busan plane catching fire at the Gimhae airport while preparing to take off was likely caused by a passenger’s portable power bank, according to passenger testimony and Air Busan officials.
On January 28, KST, at around 10:15 pm, the aircraft, an Airbus A321-200, caught fire at its tail while it was preparing to take off for Hong Kong. According to passengers on board, a “crackling sound” was heard from the overhead luggage compartment, followed by smoke.
Air Busan’s internal probe into the incident aligned with the passengers’ recollection. A flight attendant on board also reportedly testified that the fire presumably originated in the overhead bin above the seats in row 28.
Despite the testimonies, it is yet to be determined what caused such a deadly fire to engulf the aircraft. However, that didn’t stop Air Busan officials from telling the media that the fire appeared to have been “caused by a passenger’s portable power bank, compressed inside the overhead bin.”
If the power bank is indeed found to be the possible cause of the fire, it wouldn’t be the first incident of its kind. In April last year, an overheated power bank in an overhead compartment started producing smoke in an Asiana Airlines flight carrying 273 passengers. The flight attendants extinguished the device before it caught fire. In December last year, another Air Busan flight witnessed a similar incident with the flight attendants immediately extinguishing the power bank before takeoff.
A joint forensic investigation has been scheduled for January 31, KST, to determine what caused the fire on the Hong Kong-bound Air Busan flight and its starting point. Before that, on Thursday, January 30, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the Busan Fire Headquarters, and the National Forensic Service held a joint safety check meeting to discuss safety measures while investigating the site. Since the wings of the aircraft are still loaded with 15,875 kg of aviation fuel, necessary steps are to be taken to avoid any further accidents.
After an initial inspection of the site on January 29, KST, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced that there were no indications of terrorism found. However, they have added that these are only preliminary findings, and the possibility of terrorism is still on the table until the probe is concluded.
You can read more about the incident right here:
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