Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone Banned From All U.S. Flights

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was today banned from all airplanes and flights in the United States by the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. It is now labeled as a "forbidden hazardous material" under the Federal Hazardous Material Regulations.

Individuals who own or possess a Samsung Galaxy Note7 device may not transport the device on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States. This prohibition includes all Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices.

The Department of Transportation has issued an emergency order that will prevent the devices from being taken on a flight even when powered down as of Saturday, October 15 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are no longer allowed in checked or carry-on luggage and cannot be shipped as air cargo.

"We recognize that banning these phones from airlines will inconvenience some passengers, but the safety of all those aboard an aircraft must take priority," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "We are taking this additional step because even one fire incident inflight poses a high risk of severe personal injury and puts many lives at risk."

Customers who attempt to bring a Galaxy Note 7 on a flight could have their devices confiscated and could face fines. Those who attempt to evade the ban by putting their smartphone in their checked luggage could be subject to criminal prosecution in addition to fines.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
The official flight ban comes just days after Samsung permanently discontinued production of the Galaxy Note 7 and asked its carrier partners around the world to cease selling the device following reports that "safe" replacement Galaxy Note 7 devices were also catching on fire.

Samsung has not yet discovered the defect affecting the new devices and has not been able to reproduce the issue in house, but it has been forced to scrap the Galaxy Note 7 due to consumer outcry and regulatory investigations.

Samsung has asked Galaxy Note 7 owners, both with original and replacement devices, to power them down immediately and return them for a full refund. All four of the major carriers in the United States are allowing customers to return their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones for other smartphones, such as the iPhone 7.

Ending production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 is expected to cost Samsung upwards of $2.3 billion, on top of negative public perception.

Tag: Samsung

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
iphone air concept weis

iPhone 17 Air Could Look Like This in Real Life

Friday February 14, 2025 3:41 am PST by
There have been several alleged leaked details of the iPhone 17 Air, Apple's rumored new slim iPhone, but images have been limited to grainy shots taken in component factories. However, this hyper-realistic concept created by WEIS Studio gives us the best idea yet of what Apple's thin device might actually look like. The concept design is inspired by recent leaks indicating that the device...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...

Top Rated Comments

Suckfest 9001 Avatar
109 months ago
Although I'm an Apple user, Im kinda disappointed that this blog only posts about negative things about Apple competitors. Samsung has announced last night that they'd compensate G Note 7 buyers with $25 credit for other manufacturer's phones or up to $100 for another Samsung phone.
Not that that would relieve the horror this incident may have caused, i really hope Macrumors would give us "balanced" info.
Yes I know this is a Apple-Biased site, but that doesn't mean the journalists should give myopic views to its readers.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/samsung-offers-note-7-recall-customers-100-in-credit-to-stay-loyal.2006468/unread

They did report on that............

The only thing myopic here is your research methods.
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RDeckard Avatar
109 months ago
So are macrumors members. It's called petulance.
I'd call it Schadenfreude.

Apple wouldn't make an ad about Samsung's misfortune, but I'd bet a lot of money that if Apple had this dumpster fire of a fiasco... Samsung would be dancing with joy, running the type of petulant ads that Samsung is famous for.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
109 months ago
So are macrumors members. It's called petulance.
Oh please. We've seen your previous posts. If this had happened to Apple, you'd be crowing about it until the cows come home.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Suckfest 9001 Avatar
109 months ago
Nothing like frightening the public in order to justify your job. Not to mention adding to the ignorance of the public about flight dangers in general. Sigh.

So if "even one" incident is a high risk, then why haven't they heeded previous calls to ban electronics, calls that arose after iPhones caught fire on airplanes?

(Answer: because they know that cabin smartphone fires are (and have been each time) easily handled, and the mass public would have a hissy fit if the majority couldn't use their smartphones and tablets onboard.)

Couldn't he just ban it without resorting to Chicken Little language?
Sorry, your favoritest phone in the whole wide world catches fire. Being mad about it isn't going to help. :(
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thisisnotmyname Avatar
109 months ago
"forbidden hazardous material," that's a label you don't want applied to your consumer electronics product. ouch!
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bbqthis Avatar
109 months ago
Although I'm an Apple user, Im kinda disappointed that this blog only posts about negative things about Apple competitors. Samsung has announced last night that they'd compensate G Note 7 buyers with $25 credit for other manufacturer's phones or up to $100 for another Samsung phone.
Not that that would relieve the horror this incident may have caused, i really hope Macrumors would give us "balanced" info.
Yes I know this is a Apple-Biased site, but that doesn't mean the journalists should give myopic views to its readers.
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/13/samsung-note-7-customers-100-credit-stay-loyal/
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)