Green said he had powered down the phone at the crew's request, but that it began smoking in his pocket. He dropped the phone on the floor and the flight was swiftly evacuated. He said the device had burned a hole in the plane's carpet and scorched the floor underneath. Samsung said there was no evidence that the phone in question was the new Note 7.
The company was forced to recall millions of the Note 7 phones a month ago, just weeks after it was released, after several reports of them spontaneously catching fire and exploding due to battery faults.
It recently began selling the new versions of the phones in the US and elsewhere, but has already been hit by other reports that they are also overheating.
"There is no evidence that this incident is related to the new Note 7. We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause," Samsung said.
The US Federal Aviation Administration recently warned passengers not to turn on or charge their Note 7 phones when flying.
