Source: www.koreatimes.co.kr

A mobile phone caused a big brouhaha in a Korean Air passenger jet heading for Guam, Sunday, causing the cabin to fill with smoke and compelling the cabin crew to use fire extinguishers.  Additionally, passengers in Guam waiting for the aircraft to carry them to Incheon had to wait for 15 hours on the U.S. island territory.

According to Korean Air, Monday, an Airbus 330 aircraft took off from Incheon International Airport at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday and was nearing Guam when smoke started rising near a seat. Alarmed flight attendants rushed to extinguish the source of the smoke by using four fire extinguishers.  The airline added the plane made a safe landing at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam.

“While preparing for landing in Guam, a passenger’s cellphone got stuck between seats, which compressed the device to give off smoke,” a Korean Air official said.

“There were neither sparks nor fire and no one was injured.”

However, the airline did not disclose what type of mobile phone it was, adding it was not a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that was banned from planes by the U.S. Department of Transportation after several of the devices caught fire in 2016. The official added the smoke was caused by compression of the phone, not the device’s own flaws.

Despite the normal landing, the airplane, initially scheduled to take 265 waiting passengers to Incheon, could not return due to a lack of fire extinguishers.

“According to aviation regulations, an aircraft must be equipped with at least four fire extinguishers. However, we used four out of seven on the plane, so we had to go and find one more that fits the requirement there,” the official said.

As a result, the plane, which was scheduled to depart at 2:25 a.m., was postponed to 5:40 p.m.  According to Korean Air, the company offered customers meals and accommodation, although some of them had to stay in the lounge as it had difficulty securing hotel rooms in the early morning hours.