Recent incidents of portable chargers catching fire in Mainland China have raised concerns. On August 28th, a fire broke out in a portable charger inside the cabin of Xiamen Airlines flight MF8086, causing a two-hour delay in takeoff.
According to a post on social media by a netizen on August 28th, there was a fire in a portable charger in the cabin of Xiamen Airlines flight MF8086 before takeoff, with the smoke being particularly strong. The netizen called on the Civil Aviation Administration to ban carrying portable chargers as it endangers “the safety of everyone on board.”
Photos shared by the netizen showed multiple passengers standing up and looking around in the cabin, with white smoke visible. One netizen commented below the post saying that the flight was delayed by two hours. The same netizen replied, “I was so scared, I just requested a refund.”
According to the Flight Travel Horizontal App, Xiamen Airlines flight MF8086 from Dalian to Nanjing originally scheduled to depart at 8:05 am on August 28th, was delayed by more than two hours and took off at 10:16 am, arriving at 11:41 am.
In the afternoon of the 28th, Xiamen Airlines staff responded to Zonglan News that the incident did occur, causing the delay of the flight. They also mentioned that the situation was promptly handled on-site and the flight eventually took off as scheduled.
Several incidents of portable chargers catching fire inside airplane cabins have occurred this year.
On June 10th, on Shandong Airlines flight SC1159 from Zhuhai to Beijing, a passenger’s portable charger suddenly emitted smoke. After crew members dealt with the situation, the flight landed safely.
Three days later, on June 13th, on Shanghai Airlines flight FM9449 from Zhengzhou Xinzheng to Jieyang Chaoshan, another incident of a portable charger catching fire happened. The flight crew and passengers worked together to extinguish the fire with mineral water, and the flight safely landed.
Following these consecutive incidents, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued an urgent notice on June 26th, banning passengers on domestic flights from carrying portable chargers without clear 3C labeling, unclear 3C labeling, or models or batches that had been recalled, starting from June 28th.
As for the portable charger that caught fire on flight MF8086, whether it had 3C labeling or not, Dalian Zhou Shuizi Airport responded that they conduct checks before passengers board, and as long as the portable charger is produced by a legitimate manufacturer with a clear production brand, and has a 3C label with a rated energy below 100Wh, it can be carried on the plane. However, the investigation is ongoing to determine if the burning and smoking charger met the necessary safety standards.