Virgin Atlantic flight makes emergency landing after fire onboard likely to be caused by phone charger

Firefighters were called to the plane at 9pm. A passenger shared this photo above. Photo / via Twitter

A fire aboard a Virgin Atlantic flight headed to London forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Boston.

Massachusetts State Police said in a news release that the crew extinguished the fire. All 217 passengers on Flight 138 from New York as well as the crew were safely evacuated after landing.

One passenger refused treatment for a smoke-related complaint.

Passengers took to social media as they were evacuated from the flight. Photo / via Twitter

Police said the fire may have been caused by an electrical malfunction in a passenger seat.

"Preliminary investigation suggests it is a battery pack consistent in appearance with an external phone charger," a police spokesman said.

Virgin Atlantic released a statement: "The VS138 from JFK to London Heathrow (4 July 2019) diverted to Boston due to reports of smoke in the cabin.

"Our crew responded immediately and the plane has landed safely in Boston.

"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and we are currently investigating to fully understand the circumstances.

"We'd like to thank our customers for their patience as we work with them to provide local accommodation or to rebook alternative flights to their final destination."

Passenger Cory Tanner who was on board tweeted: "@VirginAtlantic in your plane that has smoke in the cabin and just had an emergency landing after being stuck on the tarmac the flight before because a plane broke down that caused me to miss my original flight. Interesting....

"Having to sit here in a smokey cabin while we wait for firefighters to board and check things out isn't great... Shouldn't the priority be to get everyone off the plane first?

"For people asking. Was told there was a fire and we would have an emergency landing shortly. Everyone could smell the smoke but was not told what the problem was until we landed. Once we landed all we were told was, there is a fire in first class.

Firefighters were called to the plane at 9pm. A passenger shared this photo above. Photo / via Twitter

"After landing the fire crew loaded the plane to inspect as we sat on the plane smelling the burning in first class. When we finally were allowed off the plane I found out one of the TV head units in first caught on fire. Everyone is now sitting in the terminal.

"Was a good hour breathing in the electrical fire.'

It was the second unusual landing at Boston's Logan International Airport on Thursday.

Earlier, an American Airlines jetliner from Chicago declared an emergency as it approached the city but landed without incident.

The airline says the pilot of Flight 1172 called in an emergency when a cockpit light indicated an unspecified potential mechanical problem as the plane approached Boston.

- additional reporting AP