A passenger’s cellphone caught fire just after an Alaska Airlines flight landed at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport leading to the crew using the evacuation slides to get all the passengers off.
The passenger’s cellphone “overheated and began sparking,” Alaska Airlines spokesperson Ray Lane said according to the Associated Press.
Flight 751 had just landed after flying to Seattle from New Orleans and was waiting to be assigned a gate at the airport at around 8.30pm on Monday when the phone overheated.
The flight crew used fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag to stop smoke from spreading in the cabin.
Mr Lane said the crew decided to use the evacuation slides to get passengers off the plane because of the “hazy” conditions in the cabin.
There were 128 passengers on the flight as well as six crew members. The passengers were transported by bus to the terminal and two individuals later received treatment at a hospital.
“Only minor scrapes and bruises were reported,” the airport said on Twitter.
The containment bags were added to Alaska Airlines planes in 2016 “to reduce the danger of mid-flight lithium-ion battery fires,” the company told Fox Business.
“The aircraft was towed to a gate and there were no impacts to airport operations,” the airport added.
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