An American Airlines plane was evacuated at San Francisco International Airport after a laptop battery fire, injuring three people.
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Local outlet ABC 7 reported that passengers began boarding American Airlines Flight 2045 to Miami at around 1:05 p.m. when the crew detected a fire in the cabin. The aircraft was evacuated, and the SFFD swiftly responded to extinguish the source of the smoke.
At least three individuals sustained minor injuries while evacuating the plane, according to SFO authorities. The San Francisco Fire Department confirmed that all other passengers were safely transported back to the terminal.
Images from the incident, as well as footage of the evacuation, were shared on X by air safety enthusiast Francisco Cunha. He pointed out a lax effort from passengers on the plane during the evacuation following the laptop battery caused cabin fire.
Passengers Take to Social Media Following Forced Plane Evacuation
“Our American Airlines flight to Miami at SFO caught fire as we were boarding,” a passenger wrote on X.”looked to the back of the plane and saw sooo much and people screaming. something int he backpack below seems to be what caught the fire?”
“Someone’s bag caught on fire in the cabin of AA2045 at SFO an hour right before we took off. And it wasn’t even a Boeing plane,” another X user cryptically quipped. “There was a light stampede, people were screaming ‘fire in the back’ and rushing towards the doors. Supposedly everyone is OK,” they added.
American Airlines issued a statement explaining that the evacuation was prompted by “smoke” reported from a laptop in a passenger’s bag.
“During boarding of American Airlines flight 2045 with service from San Francisco (SFO) to Miami (MIA), smoke was reported from inside a customer’s bag. The bag was quickly removed by our crew members and all customers exited the aircraft. We thank our crew members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline stated.
The fire department confirmed that the smoke on the plane was caused by a lithium-ion battery in a laptop. SFFD Captain Baxter noted that such incidents are rare. The department also verified that the fire was extinguished before their arrival.
However, there’s no special method for putting out a lithium-ion battery fire. SFFD officials recommend extinguishing a lithium-ion battery fire by submerging it in water.