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A man suffered burns after a lithium power bank ignited in his pocket at Melbourne Airport (MEL). This forced the evacuation of around 150 people from the Qantas Business Lounge on Thursday morning.
Qantas melb international lounge closed today
byu/Ihaveaname7617 inQantasFrequentFlyer
The man was seated in the lounge when the device suddenly overheated and burst into flames. Lounge staff acted quickly, helping him into a shower to extinguish the flames before paramedics arrived. He sustained burns to his leg and fingers and was taken to hospital in stable condition before being released later in the day.
Firefighters attended the scene and confirmed that the fire originated from the man’s portable power bank. Witnesses described smoke filling the room and passengers rushing to evacuate. The affected section of the lounge was closed for cleaning and reopened about two hours later after air quality and safety checks were completed.
Qantas has begun reviewing its policy regarding the carriage and use of lithium batteries, including portable power banks, following the incident. The airline is expected to issue updated safety guidance for passengers in the coming days.
Airlines worldwide have become increasingly cautious about lithium batteries, which can overheat and catch fire if damaged or improperly stored. Most carriers, including Qantas, already require passengers to keep power banks in carry-on baggage rather than checked luggage, and to ensure they are easily accessible (typically in a seat pocket or under-seat bag).
This is the latest in a series of incidents involving lithium batteries on commercial flights. In October, an Air China flight from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) to Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) was forced to make an emergency diversion after a lithium battery caught fire mid-flight and filled the cabin with flames and smoke. Earlier this year, American Airlines flight AA 357 from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) was forced to divert to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) after smoke began pouring from a passenger’s electronic device.
Airlines including Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines have banned the use and charging of power banks during flights altogether. Some carriers also limit how many rechargeable batteries passengers can carry, depending on their watt-hour capacity (typically restricting travelers to no more than two power banks rated between 100Wh and 160Wh).
Anthony’s Take: Lithium batteries overheating is no joke. Thankfully, it seems this man is okay and that the lounge staff acted quickly to prevent this from becoming too serious.
(Featured Image Credit: @ihaveaname7617 via Reddit.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
All power banks larger than 10,000mAh should be banned.