Last update:November 19, 2024, 1:49 PM IST

A Southwest Airlines flight at Denver International Airport was evacuated after a passenger’s phone battery caught fire.

There were 108 passengers on board at the time of the incident. (Photo credits: Instagram)

A Southwest Airlines flight experienced chaos at Denver International Airport when a passenger’s battery caught fire, igniting an airplane seat and prompting an emergency evacuation. The incident occurred on Friday as Flight 3316, with 108 passengers on board, was preparing to depart for Houston, Texas.

A video posted by the Daily Mail on Instagram showed the chaotic scene inside the plane as cabin crew urgently instructed passengers to evacuate. “Get out, get out now” is heard in the footage. Panicked passengers made their way to the exits. Despite instructions to leave things behind, many were seen trying to grab their bags as they rushed to safety.

According to eyewitnesses who spoke to CNN, the trouble started when a passenger’s smartphone overheated. It began to emit thick smoke that filled the cabin with a strong, unpleasant smell. The situation worsened when the smoke caused a chair to catch fire.

“There’s nowhere for them to go because they were coming out the back of the plane. And so I was kind of pushed around a little bit. People were yelling put your things down. But I actually had two dogs with me and I wasn’t going to leave them,” Jaquetta Anderson, one of the passengers on the flight, told the New York Post.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told CNN that passengers were evacuated after the incident. Those in the front of the aircraft exited through the jet bridge, while passengers in the back used the emergency chutes to exit to safety.

One passenger suffered a minor injury during the evacuation. The passenger whose phone caused the fire is being treated for burns. The airline said crew members were able to extinguish the fire from the seat before it spread further.

The flight arrived at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport three hours later. The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident is still under investigation.

Last month, passengers at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport in China faced a terrifying moment when smoke filled the jet bridge from a faulty power bank that caught fire. The incident occurred while passengers were walking on the bridge connecting the plane to the terminal. A passenger’s bag suddenly caught fire, but authorities quickly responded and extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported following the incident.