iPhone 4 battery combusts on Aussie flight
Well, this is awkward. Just over a month after I locked horns with Australia Post and called its restrictions on shipping electronic devices with integrated lithium batteries "arbitrary and idiotic," because "Millions of travelers fly with iPhones every year. NONE of them explode," guess what happened? No really, go on, guess.
Yes, an iPhone 4 had its battery spontaneously combust in mid-flight, and if that wasn't ironic enough by itself, it also happened on a flight over Australia. The device started emitting smoke and a red glow, but quick reactions from flight attendants extinguished the burgeoning bonfire before it could cause any further harm to passengers or the flight itself.
The device has been handed over to Australian Transport Safety Bureau for analysis, but it's pretty obvious what happened based on the picture alone: the battery got compromised somehow and went foom.
Something like this was bound to happen eventually, with millions of iPhones flying through the air every month, but did it really have to happen on an Australian flight just a month after I publicly chastised AU Post for shipping policies so restrictive it made it all but impossible for me to import an iPhone from there?
Curses! You win this round, Australia Post.
MOBILE PHONE SELF COMBUSTION
Regional Express (Rex) flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney today had an occurrence after landing, when a passenger's mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow.
In accordance with company standard safety procedures, the Flight Attendant carried out recovery actions immediately and the red glow was extinguished successfully.
All passengers and crew on board were unharmed.
The matter has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as well as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for investigation and directions.
The mobile phone in question appears to be an Apple iPhone (see picture below) and has been handed over to ATSB for analysis.
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Well, this is awkward. Just over a month after I locked horns with Australia Post and called its restrictions on shipping electronic...
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Guys, that's not a custom back plate, and it's not the "Steve Jobs Apple" logo. The glass is cracked & distorting it, that's all. Google around to find a larger version of that image, and you'll see what I mean.
November 29 2011 at 12:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply*How* would one extinguish a phone in that state? Doesn't lithium react violently withi water?
November 29 2011 at 10:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI was going to say Halon but I see that Australia has banned it. Most likely some other chemical. Most modern extinguishers don't use H2O.
November 29 2011 at 10:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Nathan Woodrow
Halon has been banned in the UK for many years. Extinguishers now use O2 on electrical fires, dry powder of oil, dry powder on oil, kitchen and fuel fires, and water for everything else.
Remember that fighting fires should be left for the Fire & Rescue Services. An extinguisher is designed to aid your escape if there is no other way out apart from past the flames. Common sense should prevail and if the fire has 'got a foothold' stay put and wait to be rescued.
Yep, that is not the correct back cover, the font is off and obviously the Apple logo isn't the norm (but cool!)
This is why they don't like people taking them apart, they somehow manage to mess them up!
Remind me of Lost!
November 29 2011 at 5:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou're holding it wrong!
November 29 2011 at 4:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyChris, if you discharge the battery before mailing the phone, it won't have the energy to catch fire. Tell that to the Aussie Post. On the other hand, you were trying to ship a new, still in the box phone. That likely had nearly a full charge, based on the full charge my phone had on arrival.
November 29 2011 at 1:55 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWonder if Apple will replace it?
November 29 2011 at 12:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI smell a conspiracy. Australia post is out to get you, Chris.
November 29 2011 at 12:16 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCustom Apply logo ... ahhhhhh... someone tempered with the backplate of the iphone that caught fire. Possibly making it intrinsically unsafe.
what is different in mid air ? air pressure, humidity (or lack of it)... maybe it was not on airplane mode thus causing the phone to propagate for UMTS signal, hence heating up the phone... but for spontaneous combustion to happen ? Flash point of the material has to be breached. In this case, i doubt so. Something else happened which was not reported.
Could be that a third-party case didn't allow the battery to vent properly. If they're not allowed to breathe, what will happen is much like what is shown in the picture.
November 29 2011 at 1:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
MyFizzy
Love the custom Apple logo with Steve Jobs!!!
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