Colombo, July 31 (newsin.asia): The cabin crew of the Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL 166 from Kochi (in India) to Colombo on Sunday successfully put out a fire emanating from a lithium mobile phone battery in an overhead baggage bin in the tail end of the A330-200 aircraft.
None of the 202 passengers on board came to any harm thanks to the quick and technically correct response of the crew who were well trained in dealing with spontaneous ignition of lithium batteries, the Airlines said in a press release.
When crew members saw smoke coming out of an overhead baggage bin in the rear of the aircraft, the Captain and other staff were immediately informed. Armed with fire extinguishers, the crew opened the baggage bin, and finding a bag emitting smoke, they sprayed it with an extinguisher and removed it to the aft galley. When it began to emit smoke again, this time more intensely, they used the lithium fire fighting technique of immersing the bag in water and extinguished the fire. A lithium battery pack and two mobile phones were found in the bag.
The crew immediately informed Air Traffic Controllers at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo, who promptly lined up dangerous goods experts and fire fighters at the tarmac. The passengers disembarked normally as no harm had come to them. The flight had arrived on time too.
The Sri Lankan Airlines authorities and other agencies have launched an investigation into the incident. Since passenger safety is a priority with the Sri Lankan Airlines, its crew are trained in global safety measures in regard to the spontaneous ignition of lithium batteries. In October 2016, Sri Lankan Airlines had totally banned the carriage and use of “Samsung Note 7” on board its aircraft.
