On Thursday morning, November 6, staff and passengers heard screams, and saw smoke and flames, coming from a man whose pocketed power bank had gone into thermal runaway inside the Qantas International Business Lounge at Melbourne Airport.
Witnesses describe the device exploding in his pocket, his jacket catching fire, smoke filling the lounge, and “battery acid flying everywhere” before employees hustled everyone out.
Was sitting in the Melbourne international lounge this morning (6th of November) and all of a sudden heard screaming from the other side of the lounge. Some guys phone had blown up in his pocket and sent the battery acid flying everywhere. His jacket caught on fire. They evacuated us because the smoke and smell was so strong, but I really just hope the guy is okay.
Qantas melb international lounge closed today
byu/Ihaveaname7617 inQantasFrequentFlyer
Lounge staff and a passenger pulled the man into a shower to douse the flames. Paramedics treated him and he was transported in stable condition to a local hospital and later discharged. He suffered burns to a leg and fingers.
A bystander photo showed the charred remains of the device on the lounge floor surrounded by wet‑floor signs. About 150 people were evacuated from the lounge which was shut for cleaning, reopening two hours later.
This incident was.. not ideal. But it’s far better that it happened on the ground, in the lounge, than inflight! (It’s also much better when a charger catches fire in the cabin than in the cargo hold – much easier to put out, and contain.)
Many failures begin with mechanical stress or shorting when the charger is in a pants pocket or carry-on, banging against keys, coins or other items. Do we need signage now telling people, “don’t charge in your pants pockets, charge only on hard surfaces” or “is that a charger in your pocket? you’ll be unhappy to see me.”
And do lounges need lithium fire kits and drills, not just extinguishers? Thermal runaway often won’t stay out when put out – you need containment bags or boxes, plenty of water, and practiced routines. The shower move here worked because it cooled and suppressed the spread.
It should be noted that Lithium Ion batteries do not contain battery acid. They are not car batteries…
Yeah, no, yeah… not good. Glad everyone’s sorta alright. Oof.
Also, Sydney’s still better. Skip MEL, unless you really need to see those Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. Beware of the hook turns, or, you’ll get hit by a tram…
I hope airlines will ban power banks permanently. Charge your device using the plane’s power or wait till you get there!
Oh, for the days of easily-removable (and user-replaceable) batteries in laptops and phones.
@John Holmes is right: there’s no battery acid in there to become airborne and “fly everywhere”. That is what you’d find in lead acid batteries, which are a little heavy to carry in your pocket (LOL). Some unreliable witness made assumptions that couldn’t be factual.
Glad the guy is ok though. He must have sustained very serious burns as Li ion batteries in thermal runaway can quickly spike to temperatures of over 600 C (1000 F).
Why, there must have been a lot of people injured with battery acid flying everywhere. It takes only a small drop of that stuff to cause a serious injury. Seriously, battery acid is dangerous but power banks don’t have it in them. The lithium ion battery electrolyte is flammable.
The best way to keep from having problems with power banks is to not charge them completely. 80% is enough and 50% is better, especially on a plane. Further, ones that have been used a lot are more likely to have problems. Putting them on a flat surface and detecting any bulging is another clue to power banks starting to break down. Companies like Amazon have warehouses with a lot of them in and don’t have a lot of problems with the warehouses burning down.
@ Raphael Solomon
But what if you need the power bank at your destination? Getting a charge in airplanes and airports is easy. However, there may not be good charging options while touring about a city.
When a cell phone power bank exploded and ignited in a passenger’s pocket, this is an excellent demonstration of a battery pack’s self-immolation. The staff at the Qantas International Business Lounge at Melbourne Airport quickly reacted, dragging the individual into the shower to extinguish the flames. This must have come as quite a surprise to another passenger using the shower at the time. On a lighter note, there is good news. If you unfortunately die by incineration from a defective battery pack or a recalled Samsung Note 7 cellphone, you qualify for a half-price cremation discount. 🙂
“What are ‘First World Problems’?”
Any electrical device that was never lab-tested per safety standards is a potential hazard. Be careful what you buy. Any electrical device should have the UL or ETL mark and be carefully inspected by the end-user for damage and counterfeit indicators. Electrical products have been causing fires for over 100 years; people carrying products in their pockets that store such vast amounts of energy is a recent development.