A lithium battery spontaneously combusted in a passenger’s carry-on luggage during an Air China flight on Saturday to Incheon, South Korea, from the Chinese city of Hangzhou, according to the airline.
The luggage was stored in the overhead bin at the time, and crew members quickly responded to the situation, the airline said. It was not immediately clear if the battery that ignited was in a device or a spare.
Video shared on social media shows the overhead bin on fire, sending smoke billowing through the cabin and alarming passengers.
The aircraft made an emergency landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. There were no injuries, the airline said.
The fire comes months after China implemented an emergency ban on some portable batteries aboard flights. The ban, which went into effect in June, came after a regulator warned about the growing risks to flights from the batteries.
Millions of lithium batteries, which can be found in some cellphones, laptops, chargers and electronic cigarettes, have been recalled in recent years over potential fire hazards.
According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the batteries can spontaneously catch fire if they are damaged or short circuit.
Through June 30 of this year, the FAA recorded 38 cases involving lithium batteries that led to smoke, fire or extreme heat on passenger and cargo flights. Last year, the agency recorded 89 similar cases.
Governments and airlines have tightened rules on the batteries this year, regulating where they can be stored on planes.
In the United States, these batteries are now mostly barred from checked baggage unless the devices containing them are completely turned off.
In China, after the country said the batteries posed a safety risk, it banned passengers from carrying portable batteries that are not clearly marked with Chinese safety certificates on domestic flights.
The new rule, however, doesn’t apply to removable batteries. The fire on Saturday was caused by one of these batteries, the airline said.
Jonathan Wolfe is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news.
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