Video: Emirates bans power bank use after smoke fills KLM flight from Brazil this week

Emirates has banned the use of power banks on board its flights, the airline announced on Friday. Other airlines, such as KLM, have already prohibited the use and charging of power banks on board for some time. Despite these measures, a power bank caused an incident on a KLM flight earlier this week.

A power bank overheated on a KLM flight from São Paulo, Brazil, to Amsterdam well after it departed on Tuesday evening local time. Video shot by a passenger on the flight showed a large amount of smoke filling the cabin.

It was the first such incident onboard a KLM flight, an airline spokesperson told NOS. Cabin crew followed procedures, covering their head, neck, and face with masks, then using fire extinguishers to put an end to the incident.

There were no injuries. The incident happened four hours before the KLM flight was due to land in the Netherlands.

“The smoke from a power bank is poisonous. They often contain lithium batteries, which can overheat and explode and release a lot of smoke, as happened in this case,” Joris Melkert, an aviation expert for TU Delft, told RTL Nieuws. Melkert added that the best solution in this case is to cool down the battery with water or other liquids.

The use of power banks by airline passengers has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to a rise in the number of lithium battery incidents in the aviation sector, Emirates said on Friday. The airline did not specifically reference the KLM incident this week.

A power bank’s battery can overheat for different reasons, such as overcharging and damage. This can result in a fire, an explosion, or the emission of toxic gases, according to Emirates. Passengers are still allowed to bring a power bank on Emirates flights, but they may not charge the item, nor use them to charge other devices.

The Emirates measure will take effect from October 1. Airline passengers are already forbidden from placing power banks in checked baggage, a rule that has existed for some time due to international safety standards.

Several Asian airlines tightened their power bank restrictions earlier this year after incidents involving overheated power banks and fires inside aircraft cabins, CNN reported in March. A power bank with a lithium battery may have been the cause of a fire in January that forced the evacuation of an Air Busan flight.

Some 27 people were wounded on the South Korean airline’s Flight 391, including three with serious injuries. All 169 passengers and the seven crew members survived when the plane was evacuated at Gimhae International Airport. A scorched power bank was found in an overhead compartment where the fire broke out, investigators said in a statement.

According to CNN, all South Korean airlines have since banned the charging of power banks on board. Singapore Airlines and China Airlines have also tightened their rules.