A Batik Air flight began to be filled with smoke from a burning power bank minutes before it landed in Bangkok, with videos posted to social media showing panic among passengers.
One nearly four-minute clip, posted on TikTok, shows smoke spreading from the overhead luggage compartment, filling the cabin space.
Flight attendants can be seen in the video checking overhead baggage compartments to look for the source of the smoke.
Passengers seated close to what seems like the affected part of the cabin can be seen leaving their seats before the attendants opened the compartment to put out the fire using an extinguisher.
Some time later, the crew can be seen opening the compartment completely as white smoke pours out.
A passenger seated opposite the affected compartment retrieved a black bag and was escorted to the rear of the plane by an attendant carrying the extinguisher.
In a follow-up video, TikTok user kentmaherr said the smoke initially looked like “steam” but was soon accompanied by a strong “chemical-like smell” as the smoke thickened.
“Thankfully, no one on the flight panicked, everyone was calm,” kentmaherr said, according to The Strait Times.
He said he and a few others followed the passenger as he carried his black bag to the back of the plane to see him take a power bank out of the bag, which was finally fully extinguished using three mineral water bottles.
Luckily the aircraft, which took off from Johor Bahru, was only 30 minutes away from its destination – Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok – when the smoke started spreading.
“All passengers were shocked by the thick smoke coming out of the luggage compartment, with the smell of fire stinging their noses,” the TikTok user wrote in the video’s caption.
“This is the first time I experienced such an incident. I thank Allah for the chance to still be alive!” he said.
Several airline operators in Asia have begun enacting changes to their luggage carry policy after an incident involving a fire in the rear of an Air Busan Airbus A321 before takeoff.
While no one was killed in that incident, the plane was badly damaged.
Korean Air, Asiana, China Airlines, as well as Eva Air, headquartered in Taiwan, have joined the airline in banning power banks, vapes and lithium-ion batteries from overhead compartments. Starting from Saturday 1 March, such items must be kept on a passenger’s person at all times.
