Samsung has had a poor track record with exploding phones, thanks to its entire Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Unfortunately, a similar incident is again back to haunt the company. A Galaxy A21 caught fire during an Alaska Airlines flight that had just landed in New Orleans after taking off from Seattle. The smoke caused by the fire forced all passengers to evacuate the plane using evacuation slides.
The phone was burnt beyond recognition, but a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle was able to confirm that it was a Galaxy A21.
“After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition. However, during an interview with one of our Port of Seattle Police officers, the passenger volunteered the phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21. Again, we could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device,” said Perry Cooper.
The fire was extinguished by the crew of Flight 751 using a battery containment bag. However, the smoke caused by the fire led to the deployment of the evacuation slides. Thankfully, no major injuries were reported, with some passengers only getting some minor scrapes and bruises.
Earlier this evening, POSFD responded to a report of a fire in the cargo hold of Alaska Airlines Flight 751. Upon arrival, the fire was contained and passengers and crew were evacuated from the aircraft. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/rY2cFgrmUH
— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) August 24, 2021
A passenger who was on the flight tweeted that the phone was like a “smoke machine.” He also noted that the passenger sitting right next to the exploding phone might have suffered minor injuries.
Samsung has yet to acknowledge the issue, but it will likely investigate the issue given the bad publicity. Before blaming Samsung for using faulty batteries on the Galaxy A21, a proper investigation is important. This is because the phone might have been charged using a counterfeit charger, or it might be a fake phone itself. So far, no other Galaxy A21 users have complained about their phone going up in flames.
The Galaxy A21 is a budget Galaxy smartphone from Samsung that’s available for $249.99. It features a 6.5-inch Infinity-O display, quad-camera, and a 4,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support.
[Via Seattle Times, The Verge]
