LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – An American flight was evacuated yesterday after a passenger’s Samsung phone began emitting smoke, prompting fresh investigations by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Indiana passenger Brian Green’s phone began emitting smoke inside Southwest Airlines’ Flight 994 to Baltimore from Louisville, Kentucky, the CNN reported.
His wife Sarah told the media that Green had replaced the original phone about two weeks ago after getting a text message from Samsung.
“All customers and crew deplaned calmly and safely via the main cabin door,” a Southwest Airlines spokesperson said in a written statement.
There is an ongoing global recall of the South Korean phone-maker’s “phablet” due to explosions caused by faulty batteries. The company suspended sales of the oversized device and recalled 2.5 million units worldwide last month.
Samsung Electronics Co said in a statement it was working to recover the device and to understand the cause. “Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note 7,” the South Korean company said.
The world’s largest smartphone maker announced a global recall of at least 2.5 million of its flagship Note 7 smartphones in 10 markets last month due to faulty batteries causing some phones to catch fire.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is in touch with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Samsung and the phone’s owner to gather facts, chairman Elliot Kaye said in a statement, reminding consumers that they could get refunds for the troubled model.
The FAA said in a statement that it had confirmed a Samsung phone caused the smoke on the Southwest flight and that it was investigating the incident.
Some 60 percent of US consumers had swapped their devices for replacements by the end of last month.
