“The crew noticed smoke from the bin and found the device was emitting smoke after possibly catching fire. They used fire extinguishers on it,” said a spokesperson for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. “We advise flyers to exercise caution while flying with Samsung Note devices. They should either keep these devices switched off or not travel with them.”
Apparently, the phone was stored in the overhead bin at the time of the incident, but after passengers and crew members smelled and subsequently saw the smoke emanating from the storage compartment, the device was quickly removed. Passengers were relocated to other seats, and a fire extinguisher was used to put out the flames.
The airline released a statement of its own, noting, “IndiGo confirms that a few passengers travelling on 6E-054 flight from Singapore to Chennai noticed the smoke smell in the cabin this morning (September 23, 2016) and immediately alerted the cabin crew on board. The crew quickly identified minor smoke coming from the hat-rack of seat 23 C and simultaneously informed the pilot-in-command who further alerted the ATC of the situation on board.”
It seems that Samsung devices are catching fire around the world, with reports about different devices with similar problems emerging across the U.S., the U.K., and now India.
“We are aware of an incident involving one of our devices,” a spokesperson for Samsung India said. “At Samsung, customer safety is our highest priority. We are in touch with relevant authorities to gather more information, and are looking into the matter.”
