A Samsung Galaxy A21 Smartphone Caught Fire on a Plane

An Alaska Airlines flight was evacuated on Monday night after a smartphone on the plane caught fire, reports The Seattle Times (via The Verge). A spokesperson for the Port of Seattle said that the device that was burned was a Samsung Galaxy A21.

samsung galaxy a21
In an email to The Seattle Times, the Port of Seattle spokesperson said that the phone was "burned beyond recognition," but the passenger who owned the device provided details on the model. "We could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device," said the spokesperson.

The flight crew extinguished the fire with a battery containment bag, but smoke forced the deployment of the evacuation slides. The smartphone did not catch fire until the flight had landed at the Seattle-Tacoma airport. 128 passengers and six crew members were transported by bus to the terminal, and there were no serious injuries.


On Twitter, a passenger who was on the flight said that the burning smartphone was "like a smoke machine."


There are often isolated incidents of cellular phones catching fire after issues with the battery, but in this cause, the problem could be notable as back in 2016, Samsung was forced to recall its Galaxy Note 7 due to exploding batteries.

At that time, there were multiple reports of Note 7 devices exploding or catching fire while charging, and the device was ultimately banned from all airplanes and flights in the United States.

There has been no evidence that the Galaxy A21 is facing a similar widespread issue at this time.

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Top Rated Comments

BB1970 Avatar
51 months ago
If it was an iPhone, it would be a worldwide news story, class action lawsuits, and batterygate hashtags.
For Samsung, it’s just Tuesday.
Score: 93 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
51 months ago

I’m sure MacRumors will report an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 fire… right?
No.

The story about an iPhone 6 fire on a flight to Hawaii didn't make front page news because it was one tiny isolated incident... kinda like this one about the Samsung A21

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-6-catches-fire-on-flight-to-hawaii.1962027/

Nor did the story about an iPhone 6 that nearly exploded in a 11 year old girl's hand while she was using it

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/07/16/iphone-almost-explodes-california-girl-hand-burns-holes-blanket/1743168001/

Or the story of an iPhone 6 Plus exploding in a kid's back pocket while he was in class

https://6abc.com/rowan-university-mount-laurel-new-jersey-apple/1534315/

Or the iPhone 7 that burned up a guy's car

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/21/iphone-7-car-fire-australia-exploding-battery-samsung


A story about airlines banning Mac laptops did make front page though

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/29/macbook-pro-some-airline-restrictions/


I don't even recall seeing MR report on the iPhone XR fire

https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/20/iphone_xr_inflight_fire_british_airways/

or iPhone X exploding

https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/02/exploding-iphone-x-lawsuit/


though the iPhone 4 fire did make front page, but it didn't happen on a plane.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/firefighters-iphone-4-spontaneously-caught-fire-while-charging.1293965/
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genovelle Avatar
51 months ago

Seems like a slow news day. Hopefully just an isolated incident. I’m sure MacRumors will report an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 fire… right?
You clearly don’t come here much. They are far more likely to report issues with iPhones than Android device. If there is some random complaint about anything Apple on any tiny site, we will hear about it.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonlight Avatar
51 months ago
Get'm while their hot!
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
51 months ago

Seems like a slow news day. Hopefully just an isolated incident. I’m sure MacRumors will report an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 fire… right?
You want them to make one up just to report on it?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Caliber26 Avatar
51 months ago
Yikes. I’m glad it didn’t happen mid-flight. ??
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)