Question : Fire Incident in Chennai Bound Flight

(a) whether the Government is aware that a smart phone caught fire inside a Chennai bound international flight of a private airline leading to major safety scare;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the aviation safety regulator has ordered any probe into the incident;

(d) if so, the details and the outcome thereof;

(e) whether the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an advisory to airlines asking them to caution passengers to avoid using smart phones on board and if so, the response of the airlines in this regard; and

(f) whether the DGCA has received latest input from its United States counterpart, Federal Aviation Administration in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(Shri Jayant Sinha)

(a) & (b) On 23.09.2016, an aircraft of a private airline was operating a scheduled flight from Singapore to Chennai. During the flight, cabin crew observed smoke from a mobile phone kept in a laptop bag in the overhead baggage rack. Action was taken to control and douse the affected article as per the procedure. No injury to any passenger or crew was reported.

(c) & (d) Matter was investigated by DGCA and during the investigation it was observed that the damage to the battery of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had led to the said occurrence.

(e) & (f) DGCA has already issued CAR Section 5 Series X Part I as guidelines for carriage or use of electronic devices on board the aircraft during flight. As per Para 3.2 of the said CAR, ;
"Electronic devices, intentionally transmitting radio signals like mobile/cellular phones, amateur radio transceivers, etc., if carried on board, shall be kept in non-transmitting mode (commonly referred to as Flight/Airplane Mode)." Further, in view of the incidents of fire to Samsung Galaxy Note 7, DGCA issued a Public Notice not to carry Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on board the aircraft including as checked-in luggage/cargo on any aircraft operating flights to, from or within India. While issuing the above mentioned instructions, advisories/ guidelines issued by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were taken into consideration.