Replacement Samsung Note 7 Unit Catches Fire on U.S. Plane

A replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 device, which has been declared safe from overheating by Samsung Electronics Co., reportedly started emitting smoke and caught fire on a Southwest Airlines Plane on Wednesday. The airline confirmed that its flight scheduled to travel from Kentucky to Maryland was evacuated before its take-off due to the incident.

Passenger Brian Green, the owner of the phone, said the Note 7 was a replacement unit issued on September 21. He also said the device was powered down and not charging when it started overheating inside his pocket and started emitting a thick smoke after he tossed it on the floor of the aircraft.

The smartphone maker announced a worldwide recall of about 2.5 million units of its Note 7 smartphones last month due to battery problems that caused some handsets to catch fire, but Samsung said it has identified and fixed the issues.

Samsung Electronics said it was working to retrieve the device and determine the cause. Meanwhile, Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement that a Samsung phone had caused the smoke on the U.S. flight and that it was looking into the incident. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is also currently investigating the report.

News are provided by InstaForex