Samsung phone emits smoke on Indian plane mid-air, no damage

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A Samsung Electronics smartphone sent smoke from an overhead baggage compartment on an Indian commercial plane during a flight on Friday, India's aviation regulator said, but there was no damage and the aircraft landed safely.

Passengers on board an IndiGo flight spotted smoke filtering from the baggage bin and alerted the cabin crew which saw sparks and smoke coming from a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone, the airline, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, confirmed in an emailed statement.

The IndiGo flight was on its way to Chennai from Singapore, the airline said.

The incident comes after Samsung recalled its new Note 7 phones across the globe due to faulty batteries causing the devices to catch fire while charging or in normal use.

The problems knocked billions of dollars off the market value of Samsung Electronics, which had tried to pre-empt rival Apple by launching the almost $900 Note 7 on Aug. 19, about a month ahead of the latest iPhone release.

There have been no previous reports of similar problems with the Note 2 model, first released in 2012.

A spokesperson for India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it will send out an advisory to airlines warning passengers to keep all Samsung Note smartphones switched off during the flight or avoid carrying the phones on commercial jets altogether.

The DGCA has called Samsung representatives to its office in New Delhi on Monday. A Samsung spokesman in India had no immediate comment but said the company would issue a statement soon.

(Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Adrian Croft)