A lithium battery spontaneously caught fire in a passenger’s carry-on bag during an Air China flight Saturday to Incheon, South Korea, from the Chinese city of Hangzhou, according to the airline.
The luggage was stored in the overhead compartment at the time and crew members quickly responded to the situation, the airline said. It was not immediately clear whether the battery that ignited was in a device or a spare part.
A video shared on social media shows the overhead compartment on fire, sending smoke into the cabin and alarming passengers.
The plane made an emergency landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. There were no injuries, the airline said.
The fire comes months after China implemented an emergency ban on some portable batteries onboard flights. The ban, which took effect in June, came after a regulator warned of growing risks from battery-related thefts.
Millions of lithium batteries, found in some cell phones, laptops, chargers and e-cigarettes, have been recalled in recent years due to potential fire hazards.
According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, batteries can spontaneously ignite if damaged or short circuited.
As of June 30 of this year, the FAA has recorded 38 cases involving lithium batteries resulting in smoke, fire or extreme heat on passenger and cargo flights. Last year, the agency recorded 89 similar cases.
Governments and airlines have tightened rules on batteries this year, regulating where they can be stored on planes.
In the United States, these batteries are now mostly banned from checked baggage unless the devices containing them are completely turned off.
In China, after the country declared batteries a security risk, it banned passengers from carrying portable batteries that do not clearly bear Chinese safety certificates on domestic flights.
The new rule does not apply to removable batteries, however. Saturday’s fire was caused by one of those batteries, the airline said.
