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ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Fire on board Sydney to Hobart Virgin flight, with lithium battery suspected as cause
An overheated battery is suspected to be the cause of a fire in the overhead locker of a passenger flight landing in Tasmania. The Hobart-bound Boeing 737-8FE, operated by Virgin Australia, took off from Sydney this morning. Around 9am, it was beginning its descent to Hobart when the blaze broke out in an overhead cabin. After smoke began entering the cabin, the fire was extinguished by crew while the aircraft was still in the air. Virgin Australia said the plane landed safely at Hobart Airport and was then boarded by firefighters from Airservices Australia, who "removed a bag from the overhead locker". Hobart Airport chief operating officer Matt Cocker said all passengers disembarked safely — but paramedics treated one person for "suspected smoke inhalation". Sam McCambridge was not on the flight but works for a rental car company at Hobart Airport. He said two separate groups of passengers told him flight attendants extinguished the fire with water after realising "a lithium battery or some sort of charging device had caught fire in someone's bag". "First customer I had this morning let me know that he was on a bit of a hairy flight coming into Hobart. He said they were about 10 minutes out from landing when … they were made aware of some smoke and a bit of a funny smell coming from one of the overhead lockers." They described seeing a "small ball of fire" burst out of the smoking overhead compartment when it was opened, he said. Mr McCambridge said he was told the "flight crew was very calm and very good at handling the situation". The aircraft was assessed for damage and a replacement aircraft was sourced for the return flight, which was delayed by about five hours. All other flights at Hobart Airport were not impacted by the incident and ran as scheduled. Virgin Australia has not confirmed the cause of the fire. According to the Virgin Australia website, lithium batteries are generally permitted as cabin baggage — with some restrictions. The website warned that batteries "pose a unique hazard during air transport" and "can cause a fire if not transported correctly". Airlines in other countries recently began tightening regulations on carrying batteries on flights following multiple fire and overheating incidents. Lithium batteries are commonly found in smartphones and other devices. South Korea banned passengers from storing power banks and e-cigarettes in overhead lockers, after a faulty power bank was suspected as the cause of a blaze that engulfed an Air Busan plane in January.
News.com.au
03-07-2025
- News.com.au
Passengers pen goodbye notes as plane plummets 25,000 feet
A Boeing passenger plane plummeted more than 25,000 feet (7.62 kilometres) in just 10 minutes — leaving some of the nearly 200 on-board unconscious, and others sending heart-wrenching goodbyes to their loved ones. The Spring Airlines Japan flight from Shanghai to Tokyo on Monday night was cruising at 36,000 feet (10.97 kilometres) with 191 passengers and crew when it suddenly dropped to just under 10,500 feet (3.2 kilometres), according to officials, blaming an unspecified mechanical issue. Terrifying footage shows panicked passengers clutching their oxygen masks — as some even lost consciousness. 'I heard a muffled boom and the oxygen mask fell off in a few seconds. The stewardess cried and shouted to put on the oxygen mask, saying the plane had a malfunction,' one passenger said. 'Suddenly, all the oxygen masks popped open while I was sleeping,' a second said. Another passenger recalled being on 'the verge of tears' as they wrote their will and the details of their life insurance and bank card PINs, thinking they were facing certain death. An alert indicating an abnormality in cabin pressure was triggered amid the ascent, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said. The flight, which had taken off from Shanghai Pudong Airport on Monday, was forced to make an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. No injuries were reported when the aircraft landed in the southern Japanese city at around 8:50pm local time, just under two hours after the oxygen masks were deployed. Those on board were offered the equivalent of $104 in transportation compensation and given one night of free accommodation. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause. Japan Airlines and Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- The Guardian
Smoke rises above Ahmedabad in first images from Air India plane crash
A plane crashed in India's north-western city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Thursday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Air India said the crashed aircraft was flight AI171, a passenger flight to Gatwick airport in the UK. Footage shown on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site near the airport in Ahmedabad
