One of the major stories over the past while has been Samsung’s ongoing battery problems. Due to a fault with the internal battery, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 had the potential to spontaneously combust and explode. This has since led to a global recall of over 2.5 million devices which is still ongoing today. The issue though has just gotten from bad to worse for the Korean firm. According to a story run by the Verge, a replacement Galaxy Note 7 caught fire on a Southwest Airlines Flight, prompting an evacuation.
Luckily for all involved, there were no injuries as the plane was still at the gate when the incident occurred. While a combusting phone is a bad enough scenario, the added element of an enclosed aircraft makes it all the more dangerous.
The most worrisome aspect was that the device is supposed to be one of the non-defective ones, with a compliant battery. According to the story, the phone was dropped onto the carpet and subsequently starting spewing fire and smoke. This is not surprising since lithium batteries can be damaged by sudden shocks. Still, one would not expect a drop to trigger a combustion, especially on a non-faulty device. It’s unclear if the fire was due to a faulty battery or simply due to the drop. Hopefully, it’s the more mundane option of Samsung is going to have a lot more work on their hands.
