SAS bans use of exploding Galaxy Note 7 on flights
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 10 Sep, 2016 CET.
Updated: Sat 10 Sep 2016 12:56 CET
Scandinavia's SAS airline has banned passengers from using Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 phone on board its planes after several reports of the device's battery catching fire or exploding.
The ban follows a strongly worded statement on Thursday from the Federal Aviation Authority, the US’s airline watchdog, warning passengers not to use or charge the phone on board flights.
“Since The FAA has issued a strong recommendation, SAS has chosen to prohibit the phone until further notice,” Fredrik Henriksson, the airline’s press officer, told Sweden’s TT newswire.
SAS passengers can bring their Galaxy Note 7 phones on board so long as they do not switch them on or attempt to charge them, he said.
The South Korean technology giant last week withdrew all 2.5m of the phones in circulation, after 35 recorded cases of fire or explosions. It estimates that 24 out of every million of the phones carries the technical fault blamed for the problem.
So far Australian alirlines Qantas, Jetstar Airways and Virgin Australia, have banned passengers from switching on the phones while on board flights, while India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued a decree banning the phone from cabin luggage.
The new model had barely gone on sale in Sweden at the time when Samsung announced a voluntary global recall on 2 September, so SAS does not expect many passengers to have the phone.
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The ban follows a strongly worded statement on Thursday from the Federal Aviation Authority, the US’s airline watchdog, warning passengers not to use or charge the phone on board flights.
“Since The FAA has issued a strong recommendation, SAS has chosen to prohibit the phone until further notice,” Fredrik Henriksson, the airline’s press officer, told Sweden’s TT newswire.
SAS passengers can bring their Galaxy Note 7 phones on board so long as they do not switch them on or attempt to charge them, he said.
The South Korean technology giant last week withdrew all 2.5m of the phones in circulation, after 35 recorded cases of fire or explosions. It estimates that 24 out of every million of the phones carries the technical fault blamed for the problem.
So far Australian alirlines Qantas, Jetstar Airways and Virgin Australia, have banned passengers from switching on the phones while on board flights, while India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued a decree banning the phone from cabin luggage.
The new model had barely gone on sale in Sweden at the time when Samsung announced a voluntary global recall on 2 September, so SAS does not expect many passengers to have the phone.
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