The real kicker to this story is that the Galaxy Note 7 in question wasn’t an old model — it was one of the replacement models. What that means is that even replacement Galaxy Note 7 phones could be at risk of exploding. Obviously, that’s not good for Samsung. What’s even worse for Samsung is that the U.S. government is now investigating the situation.
Thankfully, no one was injured in this particular incident. The plane actually wasn’t even in the air yet — it was still boarding. But it suggests that Samsung’s nightmare might not be over just yet. That’s especially true considering the fact that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that it’s “moving expeditiously” to figure out what happened. If it finds something wrong with the replacement device, Samsung could be looking at another recall. Samsung, however, is skeptical.
“We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause,” said Samsung in a statement.
Still, a report from The Verge confirms that it was indeed a replacement device. Brian Green, who owned the phone, said he had his original phone replaced at an AT&T store on September 21. The Verge also got a picture of the phone’s box, showing a black square symbol that confirms it’s a replacement device. Green also says that device had a green battery icon, indicating that it’s safe to use.
A second recall would be an absolute disaster for Samsung. The company has already spent millions upon millions of dollars in recalling the Galaxy Note 7 the first time around, and a second recall wouldn’t just cost millions more, but would put a more serious dent in customer trust in the company.
Samsung officially recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones sold before September 15 a few weeks ago, after it was revealed that the devices were at serious risk of catching fire due to a battery flaw. The recall was issued after Samsung received 92 reports of Galaxy Note 7 batteries overheating — 26 of those cases resulted in burns and 55 in property damage of some kind. In some cases, there were fires in cars and in garages. In this instance, the device caused minor damage to the plane’s carpet.
Updated on 10-06-2016 by Christian de Looper: Added information about government investigation.
