Flight Attendants Are Terrified of What’s in Your Carry-On

Fire - close up view on the control panel in the airplane

FlyerTalk reported on an incident last week that didn’t get much media attention, and I can see why. It was a story that ended with no damages, thankfully, and involved an event that doesn’t even appear on many passengers’ radar of flight concerns. To flight crews though, even a small incident like this one is incredibly scary.

The incident in question occurred Friday aboard British Airways Flight 18. While the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was en route from Seoul to London, a passenger’s cell phone overheated and began emitting smoke, prompting a flight diversion to Irkutsk, Russia.

Of all the different dangers and malfunctions we have to keep an eye out for in the air, this one creeps me out above all others. There’s no other emergency situation quite so time pressing or unforgiving as a fire. Few people really comprehend how quickly cabin fires can turn catastrophic (and I won’t belabor that particular point), and most certainly don’t realize this is a danger that has greatly expanded over the past decade or so.

The mere thought of flames at work has been a heart-stopper for flight attendants since the job came into existence, but today we have a whole new class of fire to worry about, one that wasn’t even mentioned in our manual when I started flying — the High Energy Battery Fire.

Not too long ago, flights weren’t packed with laptops and phones. Then came a steady stream of technological advances that filled cabins with smart phones, digital cameras, tablets and other personal electronic devices (PEDs), all of which spawned this new class of fire.

Despite the in-flight risk they pose, the number of PEDs we travel with shows no signs of slowing down. Earlier this year, the Runway Girl Network conducted a straw poll on Twitter, asking #HowManyPEDs people travel with. As a flight attendant, the casual numbers (10-14) were almost alarming. I say “almost” because I don’t sit here thinking my devices are going to explode at any moment. It does happen though, and worst of all, it’s unpredictable and not a simple matter of “spray at the base” and suffocate. Overheating battery situations can turn dangerous abruptly, even after several minutes of (exterior) calm.

I am a bit relived that the dangers posed by lithium-ion batteries are becoming more well-known, but there is a long way to before the average public is as informed as it should be. Interestingly, much of the new attention seems to have grown out of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the theory that a shipment of these batteries in the cargo hold could have some connection to the flight’s fate. Note: There is no actual evidence of this.

So what do you do if one of your devices alarms you? If you’re on a plane, tell your flight crew, obviously. Then/otherwise:

If it’s merely very hot…

• Disconnect any power source.
• Turn it off – but do not try to remove the battery!

If dealing with this at home…

• Isolate the device away from flammable materials and people. (Do not touch it directly. Use a towel or blanket.)

If the situation worsens (smoke, bulging, hissing or sparks) you can use extinguishers — foam or dry chemical ones are best — if you have them. Otherwise you can bathe it in cool, non-flammable liquids. Do not directly apply ice.

Whatever PEDs you cram into your own travel bag, keep them where you can reach them quickly, not in the cargo hold. Make sure you know exactly how many you have and what to do if they malfunction because, as your flight crew can definitely tell you, every second counts.

You can find more details about lithium-ion batteries and handling here.

[Photo: iStock]