A United Express flight to Houston was diverted after smoke began to come from a passenger’s electronic device. An emergency was declared because the smoke from the device could have led to a fire.
Click2Houston.com reported that United Express flight 6110, an Embraer E175 LR aircraft, was flying from Lubbock to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Due to the fire scare, it was diverted to San Antonio, where it landed safely.
The pilots’ quick thinking diverted the aircraft before a fire could ignite. Such is the nature of devices powered by lithium-ion batteries that release toxic smoke or catch fire due to thermal runaway, where rising temperatures in the battery cause it to release flammable gases and ignite…