A Southwest Airlines flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Baltimore was evacuated Wednesday morning after officials said a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone belonging to a passenger began to smoke.
The Verge reports all passengers and crew exited the plane with no injuries reported, but the phone was a replacement that was verified as safe by Samsung. The Galaxy Note 7 smartphone was recalled by Samsung last month after multiple incidents showed the phone's battery causing injuries and damage.
Brian Green, the phone's owner, told The Verge that he picked up the phone from an AT&T store on Sept. 21 after bringing in his original phone. A photograph of the box displays a "black square symbol," which indicates that it is one of the verified replacement phones by Samsung, The Verge added.
According to Green, he "powered down the phone" when he entered the plane and placed it in his pocket, which is when it began to smoke. He dropped it onto the floor of the plane and saw a "thick grey-green angry smoke" emanating from the device. The phone later burned through the carpet and subfloor of the plane, which a friend of Green's observed when he returned to retrieve some personal items, The Verge added.
Green told The Verge that his phone had an 80 percent charge when the incident occurred and he had been using a wireless charger since being given the device. Samsung has not yet commented on the incident and Green's phone was taken by the Louisville Police Department arson unit and he was given an iPhone 7.
The CPSC issued a warning to people with Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices to stop using their phones last month and a Palm Beach Gardens man learned the hard way after the device exploded in his pocket.
Read more at The Verge.
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