On Saturday, October 18th, China International Airlines flight CA139 from Hangzhou to Seoul, South Korea, experienced a sudden fire in the overhead luggage bin in the passenger cabin. The airplane made an emergency landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and fortunately, there were no casualties.
According to the notification from Air China, flight CA139 took off from Hangzhou at 9:47 on October 18th, with a scheduled arrival time at Incheon Airport in Seoul at 15:00 local time. The flight had to make an emergency landing at Shanghai Pudong at 11:07 due to a lithium battery in a passenger’s carry-on luggage catching fire.
Videos circulating on social media showed flames and thick smoke coming from a travel bag on the right-hand side luggage bin of the aircraft, causing panic among passengers who were worried about an explosion. They were heard shouting for fire extinguishers.
China International Airlines later explained that the lithium battery in a passenger’s carry-on luggage caught fire in the overhead bin, and the crew promptly handled the situation according to procedures, ensuring that no one was injured. To maintain flight safety, the airplane landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport. Air China reassigned another plane to continue the mission of the affected flight.
Reports from mainland China media quoted a passenger who mentioned that the incident occurred just half an hour before reaching Seoul.
Real-time flight updates showed that CA139 was delayed for more than 5 hours before finally arriving at Incheon International Airport.
The notification from Air China did not specify the type of device the lithium battery belonged to.
Since June, there have been multiple incidents of lithium battery fires and self-ignitions in Chinese-made power banks, prompting several well-known brands to recall their products.
In response to these safety concerns, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a directive on June 28th, prohibiting passengers from carrying power banks without the 3C certification mark, with unclear labeling or those belonging to recalled models or batches on domestic flights. However, this regulation has not been enforced on international flights.