BA flight diverted due to overheated mobile phone
A British Airways flight with around 200 passengers had to be diverted to an airport in Siberia when a passenger’s mobile phone overheated.
The pilot decided to land the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner in the remote city of Irkutsk, Russia, when smoke was detected inside the cabin.
The incident happened on Friday just a few hours into the 11-hour flight from Incheon International Airport in Seoul to London Heathrow.
Flight BA18 remained on the ground in Russia for less than two-and-a-half hours before re-fuelling and resuming its journey.
"We’re sorry for the delay to the service, after our experienced pilots diverted the aircraft as a precaution," said a BA spokeswoman.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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