On Thursday, Oct. 9, All Nippon Airways flight NH994 had two portable power banks (battery packs) catch fire while airborne. After passengers and flight attendants extinguished the fire, the flight continued to its destination.
The flight involved was en route from Okinawa to Tokyo Haneda. This flight was already running late for a different reason unrelated to the power banks catching fire. The aircraft involved was JA981A, a 1-year-old Boeing 787-10.
According to reports, the power banks caught fire soon after takeoff from Okinawa. Passengers and crew, using water and fire-resistant bags, were successful in immediately stopping the fire.
These two power banks belong to the same passenger, who had two more power banks onboard. All 347 passengers and crew onboard were left unharmed.
In the meantime, JA981A, the aircraft involved, has continued its scheduled flights without the need for additional inspections.
This incident raises the question yet again of the safety of power banks during flights. Many airlines around the world, particularly in Asia, have implemented strict rules this year, while many have also banned the use of them on board.
Japan began implementing rules in July, where power banks belonging to passengers must be placed somewhere in sight, such as with the personal item underneath the seat in front or in a seat pocket, not in the overhead bins.
Given that this incident’s power banks were under the seat in front, passengers were immediately able to notice the fire and put it away. Had these been in the overhead bin, it arguably could have gone much worse, and perhaps shows that the new rule starting in July is somewhat working. Still, incidents like this could prompt changes domestically and raise conversations among other airlines and nations around the world as well.
Meanwhile, ANA still has several domestic aircraft without outlets, and a full ban on the use of power banks could also become a passenger experience issue.
Featured image by the author.
What strikes me about this is that this literally never used to happen. I could see an increase in similar incidents due to inflight WiFi but people were charging their phones the same way a decade ago without incident unless you count those phones that kept catching fire. Something has changed but I’m uncertain exactly what.
My assumptions..
More people have them these days, more chances for a fire. I didn’t own one till pretty recently myself.
Quality control issues? The cheapest ones may not be the safest, I’ve also heard bad quality cables can cause a short and fire.
Bigger capacity of today’s power banks?
I was going to comment exactly that. More and more people have them these days compared to a decade ago.
Additionally, I think the Air Busan incident has made everyone, both passengers and airlines, more wary of this issue.