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E-Cigarette battery sparks fire on American Airlines flight
An American Airlines passenger’s electronic cigarette “malfunctioned” Thursday and started a small fire aboard the aircraft, airline officials said. The small fire forced the flight from Dallas to Indianapolis to make an emergency landing at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. (www.airlive.net) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Hi James, clearly you have your head together and your flight priorities are organized around flight safety. I only wish more people flying commercial today had your sense of clarity and thoughtfulness. THUMBS UP!
I did recently fly and took my e-cig with me. However, i transported the batteries in a seperate, flame resistent package, and not installed in the mod itself. I believe this is probably the safest way to take them with you. Eventually though, with things like this happening because of irresponsible douche bags, they will be banned from aircraft altogether.
I remember a fire on an Air Canada DC-9 that forced the crew to make an emergency landing at the Greater Cincinnati Airport on a DAL-YYZ flight because of a fire that broke out in the aft lav. The pilots successfully landed with the whole cabin full of smoke. However, there was a sudden "flashover" from the thick black smoke that ignited. Firefighters estimated the temp at the top of the cabin was 1,500C. It simply sucked all the available oxygen into the conflagration. I believe 34 people were killed because some idiot needed a cigarette and went to the lav. That accident brought tough new ant-smoking legislation in Canada and the United States. I caught a fool lighting-up in the lav on a LUF flight from FRA-YYZ and we were only Mid-Atlantic by that point. I notified a flight attendant and identified who the fool was. The First Officer came back and arrested the smoker. The idiot was handed over to the RCMP after we landed in YYZ. My question is where would that 747-400 have gone if a fire had started? As passenger's or pilots alike we must report this deadly behaviour immediately. The current laws dealing with smoking illegally in flight should be treated as a felony. The current punishment is just a slap on the wrist. I would propose more serious fines and punishment,ie; $100,000, a year in prison and mandatory listing on the International NO FLY LIST. I agree with all the comments that Mike Mohle and sparkie624 have made. You can find excellent references to the Cincinnati fire on GOOGLE or the aviation accident investigation series MAYDAY.
I'm wondering why planes didn't come crashing down when smoking was still allowed on airplanes. Probably the idiots didn't have to discard of the cigarette but in the trash container in the lavatory...
That being said, I'm really glad smoking is no longer allowed. But mostly because it stank as hell.
That being said, I'm really glad smoking is no longer allowed. But mostly because it stank as hell.
This is an excellent point. I remember on a couple of long-hauls, 11-14 hours you would be seated next to some beer guzzling chain smoking slob. If the flight was full you might just as well burn your clothing when you land...then take a 3 hour shower just to get the stench off your body. Now with no smoking it's a bit better. On a recent short haul YEG-YVR I had to sit next to "cowboy Bob". He kept passing out on my shoulder until I could get a kind flight attendant to get me into another seat. Drunk's are a safety hazard too, because their reaction times in an in flight emergency can impede the ability of other passengers who are trying to evacuate a plane in a life and death situation. They shouldn't be allowed to board if their is the slightest possibility of intoxication. You know what the first thing these idiots are going to do when a beverage service begins.
I remember working in that Error of aviation. Cabin Pressurization was problem number one. Once they stopped smoking on aircraft Pressurization went to about the most reliable system on the aircraft. I remember an experiment in A&P School We took a 55 gallon barrel of Varasol and dropped an outflow valve into it. Until weighed about 20 pounds. Before you heard it hit bottom, you cold not see the bottom. I would hate to see the lungs of some of these people. Cabin Air Return filters were bad as well. I would never ever change one without wearing Rubber Gloves.
Didn't the MAYDAY