DROPPING a smartphone and picking it up is a normal part everyday life.But dropping your phone could be a major disaster during a flight, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority has warned.CASA said smartphones that fell into the mechanism of seats could be crushed if the seat was adjusted, possibly damaging the phone’s volatile lithium battery and causing it to overheat and burst into flames.
Battery fires have been considered the cause of a number of midair emergencies recently, including on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Los Angeles in June.
In that incident, a passenger’s smartphone slipped between the seats and was crushed as the passenger reclined their seat to try and retrieve it. The battery in the crushed phone erupted into flames, which was extinguished by flight crew.
CASA said the number of such incidents on aircraft was growing, because of the increasingly slimline design of smartphones and the increased power of batteries.
