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Earlier today, United Airlines flight UA12 from Zurich Airport (ZRH) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) diverted to Shannon Airport (SNN) after a laptop became wedged in a Polaris® (Business Class) seat. Fears over a potential fire caused the aircraft to touch down in Ireland.
The Boeing 767-300 had 157 passengers and 10 crew members on board. There wasn’t actually a fire, but the flight was eventually cancelled after the diversion. Lithium ion batteries can pose a fire hazard and the concern was that if the laptop could not be removed prior to flying that it could cause an incident somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
Shannon Airport’s (SNN) Fire and Rescue Service was standing by after the crew confirmed it would be making an overweight landing. The plane was inspected after landing and it was noted that the braking system hadn’t overheated upon landing. The laptop was retrieved by maintenance technicians, but the flight was still cancelled. Passengers were provided with overnight hotel accommodations and they will resume their journey tomorrow.
A United Airlines spokesperson said:
United flight 12 scheduled from Zurich to Chicago landed safely in Shannon to address a potential safety risk caused by a laptop being stuck in an inaccessible location. We’re working quickly to get customers to their final destination.”
The fear around fires caused by lithium ion batteries is real. Devices powered by them can overheat and this can be devastating if this happens while in flight. There is a reason why flight attendants make announcements about not moving your seat if your device falls into or under it. Damage to the batteries can be a major ordeal and significant smoke and heat can occur as a result.
Anthony’s Take: This might seem like an overreaction, but the crew made the right call and safely landed without injuries. Their travels might be delayed a day, but at least everyone will arrive safely.
(Featured Image Credit: United Airlines.)
(H/T: Paddle Your Own Kanoo.)
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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
You hear about these things and the crew also mentions it during the pre-flight presentation, and you don’t think anything of it.
And then it happens to you! I was on Turkish Air in an Airbus 330-300 (I think – it was a 2-2-2 business class setup) and lo and behold: my phone went down into my business class seat. There was supposed to be a strap holding stuff in to a little pocket on the side where I had put my phone, but mine was broken off. I pulled all sorts of stuff out of that seat: water bottles, slippers, food wrappers, and even some food, in short everything you’ll find on a plane EXCEPT my phone! What they’ll do is when you land, they’ll have previously arranged for a technician to come in and extract your phone. In my case, he had to take apart the seat because somehow the phone ended up under the large armrest (which contained the table, etc.). He said he had never seen one go there and it was quite the operation to get it out. My screencover was cracked but otherwise the phone was ok. Overall, the whole experience and flight (FRA-IST) was a nightmare and I’ll never put my phone anywhere where that can possibly happen again.