Note 7's battery damage led to an on-board fire incident: Minister

The government on Thursday revealed that its investigations have found that damage to the battery of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had led to a stray incident of fire on-board a commercial aircraft on September 23, 2016.

On September 23, an aircraft of a private airline was operating a scheduled flight from Singapore to Chennai. During the flight, the cabin crew observed smoke from a mobile phone kept in a laptop bag in the overhead baggage rack.

"Action was taken to control and douse the affected article as per the procedure. No injury to any passenger or crew was reported," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Lok Sabha.

"Matter was investigated by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and during the investigation it was observed that the damage to the battery of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had led to the said occurrence," Sinha said in a written reply to a question.

The Minister elaborated that guidelines have been issued by the DGCA prohibiting the use of the high-end smartphone on-board aircraft.

"In view of the incidents of fire to Samsung Galaxy Note 7, DGCA issued a Public Notice not to carry Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on board the aircraft including as checked-in luggage/cargo on any aircraft operating flights to, from or within India," Sinha said.

"While issuing the above mentioned instructions, advisories/ guidelines issued by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were taken into consideration."

--IANS

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