Aviation regulators in several countries and airlines are advising against turning on or charging Samsung’s Note 7 smartphones during flights because their lithium batteries can catch fire and explode.
But at least one U.S. regulator is advising consumers to stop using the phones altogether.
On Friday, the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission urged “consumers who own a Samsung Galaxy Note7 to power them down and stop charging or using the device.”
The agency said in a statement that the warning “is based on recent reports involving lithium-ion batteries in certain Note7 devices that have resulted in fires,” and that CPSC and Samsung are working to announce “an official recall of the devices, as soon as possible.”
Also Friday, the European Aviation Safety Agency cautioned passengers against using or charging the phones while in flight or packing them in checked bags, according to a posting on its website.
That followed a similar warning issued Thursday by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
South Korea-based Samsung is recalling all of the 2.5 million smartphones shipped since they went on sale. About three dozen were found to have batteries that caught fire and exploded.
Samsung issued a press release Friday saying that “consumer safety and peace of mind are our top priority.”
(culled from www.washingtonpost.com)
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