Mid-Flight Mayhem: Cabin Fills With Smoke After Charger Explodes

Sky Drama Over the Atlantic: Smoky Cockpit After Power-Bank Explosion on KLM Jet

Chaos at 35 000 Feet: Device Ignites Between São Paulo and Amsterdam

A routine red-eye turned harrowing on Tuesday when a personal power bank burst into flames four hours after departure from São Paulo-Guarulhos International, sending plumes of acrid smoke through the Boeing 777 cabin.
Passenger footage captured faces shielded by blankets and jumpers as a KLM cabin-crew member advanced down the aisle with an extinguisher.

No flames are visible in the clip, only thick grey smoke.

All 293 souls on board remained belted while attendants opened vents and switched seat-call buttons to “smoke alert” mode.

The aircraft—a 19-year-old twin-jet registered as PH-BQK—never diverted. Controllers in Madrid relayed clear tracks above the Azores, and the captain elected to continue to Schiphol, landing at 06:42 local time with zero injuries logged.

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Rapid Response & Repercussions: Dutch Line’s Explanation

In a brief bulletin issued the same morning, KLM spelled out the timeline:

Time (UTC-3)	Event
23:11	Take-off GRU
02:57	Crew smells burning plastic coming from 30C seat pocket
02:59	Cabin chief isolates smoking power bank in ceramic pot, douses with halon
03:12	Fumes cleared—HVAC set to max extract
07:42	Touch-down Amsterdam

KLM praised the “textbook reaction” of its crew and confirmed the lithium-ion power bank—a palm-size off-brand Chinese unit—will undergo lab analysis at Delft University.

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Why Lithium Cells Keep Lighting Up the Sky

The trouble is chemical.
Lithium-ion batteries are energy-dense; when a single cell ruptures, runaway heat ignites neighbouring cells.
Recent U.S. statistics:

2015: 8 in-flight battery incidents

2024: 31 incidents—a 388 % spike nearly two per week, per FAA release last December

UL Standards & Engagement reports:

87 % of surveyed flight attendants are “very or extremely worried” about battery fires.

1 in 4 flyers admit to throwing spare power banks into checked luggage in violation of IATA rules.

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Policy Shift: Emirates First to Ban Mid-Air Recharging

Effective October 1, 2025, Emirates will bar all in-flight power-bank use.
Passengers may bring units in carry-ons, but the plugs stay capped. A spokesperson called it a “proactive stance” after a “marked climb in customer-reported thermal runaways.”
Other Gulf giants—Etihad, Qatar—are watching closely.

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Last Month’s Delta Scare

Only three weeks earlier, a Delta 767 flying Atlanta–London diverted to Fort Myers when a tablet attached to a battery pack overheated, burning the seatback.
The Florida landing took 23 minutes, injuring two passengers from smoke inhalation.

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Safety Checklist for Travellers in 2025

Before you pack for spring:

Carry the bank on your person—never gate-check it.

Cap ports with airline-approved covers.

Use name-brand cells with CE or UL certification.

Stow in seat pocket—not the overhead bin—so attendants can reach it quickly.

Watch for puffiness or heat before boarding—retire swollen chargers before flying.

For now, KLM says PH-BQK is back in rotation after a deep clean and sensor recalibration—a reminder that the sky is big, the batteries are small, but their risk is growing.