Cabin crew members aboard SriLankan flight en route to Colombo from Kochi on Sunday had managed to successfully avert a major incident which is believed to have been caused by the ignition of a lithium battery pack or mobile phones in a passenger’s hand luggage, the Airline said yesterday.
Issuing a statement, it said the cabin crew members noticed smoke appearing from an overhead luggage bin.
“The aft cabin crew members rapidly armed themselves with fire extinguishers and opened the bin. Upon finding a bag emitting smoke, they sprayed it with an extinguisher. The crew then removed the bag from the overhead bin and carried it quickly away from the passengers to the aft galley, at which time it began to emit smoke once again at a faster rate. Suspecting a lithium fire, they adopted the lithium fire extinguishing procedure by immersing the bag in a container of water. The situation was successfully contained and the bag ceased to emit smoke. Upon investigation, the crew found a lithium battery pack and two mobile phones in the bag,” the statement said.
