The striking video depicts smoke billowing from the front section of an Airbus A320 aircraft cabin after a passenger’s power bank exploded mid-flight.
The clip recorded on the Royal Air Philippines RW602 flight travelling from Boracay island in the Philippines to Shanghai, China, showed frightened passengers moving towards the rear of the aircraft to avoid inhaling the smoke in the late hours of Monday, 19th February.
The pilot was reportedly urged to make an emergency landing at Hong Kong International Airport after the cabin filled with smoke following the explosion.
Authorities, including firefighters and emergency rescue staff, immediately arrived at the scene and took care of the passengers.
The flight was able to continue its journey after about an hour following the emergency landing.
It reportedly reached its scheduled destination at Shanghai-Pudong International Airport, at approximately 12:30am on Tuesday, 20th February, after a three-hour-long delay.
Chinese media stated that nobody was injured as a result of the incident.
Anna Curzon, who caught the incident on camera, said: “We’d been in the air for about an hour when the fire happened.
“I was terrified because I thought the plane was crashing. I could only think of my little son and how he would miss me. Was so relieved when the plane landed.”
Pants On Fire As Power Bank Explodes In Mans Pocket
The video triggered many social media users to share their thoughts after it emerged on the social media platform Douyin. China’s version of TikTok, later that day.
Douyin user ‘Thirty-seven twenty-one’ said: “Isn’t it forbidden to bring a power bank on board the plane? How did they bring it on board?”
Then user ‘happy little stone mound’ commented. “There are always people like this who don’t follow the rules.”
And ‘Beicheng is waiting for the wind to blow’ added: “How do you even bring a power bank on a plane?”
The video has reached more than 13,000 likes and another 7,000 shares as of 21st February.