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Airlines Are Stocking Fire-Containment Bags For Smartphones

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An advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is seen on an air bridge leading to a plane at the airport in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on October 2, 2016. Signs at the Wuhan airport check-in counters warn passengers not to switch on or charge Note 7 smartphones on the plane and ban them from check-in luggage. The warnings follow Samsung's recall of Note 7 phones after cases of batteries catching fire were reported in the US. / AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKERGREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images
Signs at check-in counters warn passengers not to switch on or charge Note 7 smartphones on the plane and ban them from check-in luggage, following Samsung's recall of Note 7 phones after cases of batteries catching fire were reported in the US, at the Wuhan airport in China, on Oct. 2, 2016.Greg Baker—AFP/Getty Images
By Melissa Chan

Major airlines will be stocking planes with fire-containment bags, amid reports that certain smartphones can overheat and burst into flames, in a move meant to prevent devices from exploding aboard flights and in airports.

Delta plans to supply its entire mainline fleet with fire-containment bags by the end of 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal. The airline joins Virgin America Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc., which began doing so earlier this year, the newspaper said.

The safety effort comes as Samsung found its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones were found prone to catch fire.

There were 23 recorded incidents of involving overheating, fire, smoke or an explosion on planes and in airports this year, the WSJ reports, although the causes of each incident is unclear.

[WSJ]

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