The plane’s passengers fled to safety after a power battery caught fire in the airport’s jet bridge.
Video of the incident obtained by PEOPLE shows terrified passengers fleeing as smoke filled the concourse at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Sunday, October 20.
In the video, other passengers watched the smoke on the bridge from behind clear doors while an airport crew member could be seen communicating the problem on a walkie-talkie.
The video also shows what appears to be where the fire started – one of the passenger’s backpacks with thick smoke coming out of it. According to the Associated Press, the power bank was in a backpack when it caught fire.
Four hospitalized after battery catches fire on United Airlines flight
One passenger told the AP that she saw the passenger’s backpack smoking and alerted others to the problem.
“I said that to the man next to me [the passenger] he must have a lithium battery in his bag, and if it caught fire, he would have to rush to get a fire extinguisher,” she recalled.
The fire on the bridge was extinguished, and the area was ventilated. No one was injured in the incident, according to local media and AP.
Airplane passenger says he ‘never’ puts his phone on airplane mode — and commenters are outraged
Due to incidents related to battery pack fires, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) states that power banks with rated energy greater than 160 Wh are prohibited, AP reported.
The equivalent US organization, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), also notes on its website that lithium batteries of 100 watt hours or less are allowed in a carry-on bag, but higher capacity lithium batteries are only allowed with special instructions.
In a similar incident last year, four people were hospitalized after an external battery caught fire on a United Airlines flight to New Jersey. A power bank also caught fire on an Air Asia flight in Thailand earlier this year, according to New York Post.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
There were a total of 78 incidents involving lithium batteries involving smoke, fire or extreme heat last year and 55 incidents since this year, according to the FAA’s website. The FAA also noted that between 2006 and 2024, there were a total of 564 aviation incidents involving lithium batteries, with the majority of incidents involving a battery pack or battery of some kind.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education