“After checks by the maintenance teams, the device was found and the aircraft was able to take off again quickly,” the airline said in an unsigned statement. “Air France regrets this situation and reminds that the safety of its customers and crew members is its absolute priority.”
The plane made it to Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory, about four hours later than scheduled. In February, a flight from Charles de Gaulle in Paris to Martinique turned around after maintenance workers needed to retrieve a phone that had been dropped, the airline confirmed.
Air France’s decision to turn its planes around has renewed attention on the issue of electronics on planes as airlines become more strict about how devices are handled because of safety concerns about lithium batteries.
‘Actually a hazard’
Passengers are required to keep vape pens and spare lithium batteries, such as portable chargers, in the cabin at all times, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The items are not allowed in checked bags.
Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said it’s rare that a phone can’t be found on a plane, but if one is lost in a seat it could be hazardous. He said if the seat is moved while the phone is stuck, it could create pressure on the phone that could cause it to overheat or catch fire.
“Any pressure on the phone if it’s left unattended inside the seat, it’s actually a hazard,” he said. “It’s a very difficult space to get in there if it starts catching fire or smoking.”
He said Air France made the right call.
“They just didn’t want to take the chance over water,” said Shahidi, whose non-profit advocacy organisation says it “exists to champion the cause of aviation safety”.
The batteries are more prone to catching fire when they’re damaged or charging, the Washington Post has reported, though the prevalence of those fires is relatively low. The FAA says it is aware of 85 lithium battery air incidents involving smoke, fire or extreme heat last year. It handles about 16.4 million flights per year, according to its website.
International crackdown
As of the beginning of the month, South Korea requires travellers to keep power banks or vaping devices near them, not in overhead bins, and it prohibits the use of battery packs for charging devices in flight, according to news reports. Reuters reported that government officials have pointed to a power bank as a possible cause of an Air Busan fire in January that forced an evacuation and destroyed the plane.
Many airlines in Asia have announced restrictions on external chargers, CNN reported.
US airlines have also had electronic emergencies. This month, a laptop battery caught fire on a Southwest plane on the ground in Reno, Nevada, according to news reports; witnesses described exiting via an emergency slide. A similar scene unfolded on a Southwest jet in November after a cellphone battery ignited on the ground in Denver.
The FAA says flight crews are trained to “recognise and respond” to fires caused by lithium batteries in cabins.
“Passengers should notify flight crew immediately if their lithium battery or device is overheating, expanding, smoking or burning,” the agency says on its website.
Some carriers including Delta and United remind passengers before taking off that they should alert a flight attendant if a cellphone or other electronic device is lost between or under seats. That reminder is “for the safety of our customers and crew”, Delta spokeswoman Samantha Moore Facteau said in an email.
United spokeswoman Erin Jankowski said in an email the airline informs passengers that moving the seat can damage a device.
Shahidi, of the Flight Safety Foundation, said he’s had to summon help when his phone has slipped into the recesses of an airplane seat.
He said travellers should “take responsibility” with electronic devices, and especially battery packs, to make sure they are easily accessible and not under any pressure when they’re packed.
“They should take good care of these devices so they don’t create an unnecessary hazard,” he said.
