United Airlines 737 Lands Safely

On 07 February 2023, a United Airlines flight bound for Newark’s Liberty International Airport (EWR) returned to San Diego International Airport (SAN) after a laptop computer belonging to a first-class passenger ignited, filling the aircraft’s cabin with smoke.

The digital flight-tracking platform FlightAware reported United Airlines Flight 2664 was airborne some 44 minutes before returning to SAN and touching down safely at approximately 07:30 PST.

Responding fire-crews evacuated the entirety of Flight 2664’s passengers and crew. Four people were taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. Two additional passengers attended to on-scene declined further treatment. Among those hospitalized were flight attendants credited with containing the blaze.

Caroline Lipinski, a passenger aboard the flight, stated that a few minutes after departure, a bag in the aircraft’s first-class cabin began emitting smoke. "He [the bag’s owner] threw something on the ground and it was a battery charger pack or something from his laptop... it burst into fire.” Ms. Lipinski added: "There was smoke in the cabin ... I was terrified.”

Stephan Jones reported that a number of his fellow passengers “were gasping ... screaming” as flight attendants took up fire extinguishers and hastened to the 737’s first-class cabin.

In a post-incident statement, United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart set forth: “Our crew acted quickly to contain the device, and medical personnel met the aircraft upon arrival at the gate. We thank our crew for their quick actions in prioritizing the safety of everyone on board the aircraft and we are making arrangements to get our customers to their destinations.”

The lithium batteries from which modern digital devices the likes of laptop computers, tablets, and mobile telephones draw power are designed to deliver high electrical output while maintaining minimal weight. Ergo, components—such as the partitions by which the batteries’ cells are separated—are engineered for minimum thickness. While not patently fragile, subject components can be damaged if the devices they power are roughly handled or allowed to grow overly-hot. If the battery is damaged, a short occurs by which the reactive lithium may be ignited.

Under certain unfavorable conditions, batteries heat to the point of thermal runaway. In such instances, the heat of a battery’s contents exerts pressure on its casing, potentially occasioning explosion—or the interruption of travel to picturesque Newark.

FMI: www.united.com