Cell phone battery ignites on Delta flight from Norfolk to Atlanta

A cell phone battery ignited and caught fire Friday on a plane heading from Norfolk to Atlanta.

According to the Virginian Pilot, Delta Airlines flight 2557 had just taken off when a cell phone battery that was not attached to a phone caught fire.



"Somebody started yelling 'FIRE, FIRE'," said Virginian Pilot Reporter Robyn Sidersky. 

Sidersky said she was woken up by the commotion from passengers.

Passengers alerted flight attendants of the fire in row 34. As attendants when to get a fire extinguisher, a couple of retired military people reportedly began to help put the fire out.

"[The battery] was between the window seat and the middle seat," said Sidersky. 

One person on board began dousing the battery with a bottle of water and the other helped get passengers out of the smoke-filled area of the cabin.

Sidersky said tensions from passengers were heightened, especially in the midst of national concerns of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone batteries igniting. 

"[Crews] specifically mentioned it before we took off that if you have [a Galaxy], you should make sure it's turned off and you can't charge it during the flight," Sidersky said.

Delta Airlines could not confirm the battery was from a Samsung phone, but the airline released a statement regarding the incident:

"During ascent from Norfolk International Airport to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the flight attendants of Delta flight 2557 observed smoke in the rear portion of the aircraft. They acted quickly to immediately dissipate the smoke.

It quickly became evident that the source of the smoke was from a spare battery not affixed to a device. 

Delta is working to determine the source and type of the battery and will work with aviation safety officials. The flight, with 143 customers and five crew members, routinely continued to Atlanta. Safety is always Delta’s top priority."

The fire was put out quickly, according to one of the passengers.

No injuries were reported and the flight continued on as usual.

After the fire, passengers were told to turn off all cell phones.

(culled from www.13newsnow.com)