This is the moment terror broke out on a passenger plane as a fire ignited in the hand luggage compartment on a crowded Airbus A321. The Air China plane was at 33,000 feet when flames erupted, caused by an overheated power bank.
The plane was en route from China’s Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport to the South Korean capital of Seoul when it was hit by the emergency. There was initial panic as smoke fumes spewed into the cabin. People on board can be heard shouting “Faster, Faster” as the crew dealt with the flames.
Passengers made clear that the fire was ultimately extinguished by the swift action of the Chinese crew. Miraculously, none of the 160 passengers or crew were reported injured from the blaze on flight CA139.
However, the aircraft then made an emergency landing at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. According to Flightradar24, the plane landed in Shanghai at around 11am. Passengers were later put on another aircraft, which took them to Seoul.
Since June this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has banned the carriage of power banks and batteries without 3C standard labelling or unclear labelling on board domestic flights. This is due to a reported increase in incidents involving Li-ion batteries catching fire on board.
This news comes as a cargo plane skidded off the runway at Hong Kong International Airport and plummeted into the sea during landing in the early hours of Monday. The tragedy has left two people dead.
The flight, arriving from Dubai, was attempting to land at the airport around 3:50am. Four crew members were pulled from the wreckage and immediately taken to hospital for treatment. It is believed that the two killed were from an airport ground vehicle.
According to BBC News, the affected runway has been shut, but the airport’s other two runways remain operational.
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