FAA warns airline passengers not to use Samsung phones
“U.S. aviation safety officials took the extraordinary step late Thursday of warning airline passengers not to turn on or charge a new-model Samsung smartphone during flights following numerous reports of the devices catching fire,” Joan Lowy reports for The Associated Press.
“”The Federal Aviation Administration also warned passengers not to put the Galaxy Note 7 phones in their checked bags, citing ‘recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung’ about the devices,” Lowy reports. “It is extremely unusual for the FAA to warn passengers about a specific product.”
“Last week, Samsung ordered a global recall of the jumbo phones after its investigation of explosion reports found the rechargeable lithium batteries were at fault,” Lowy reports. “In one case, a family in St. Petersburg, Florida, reported a Galaxy Note 7 phone left charging in their Jeep caught fire, destroying the vehicle.”
MacDailyNews Take: Not to mention the house in Georgia, the hotel room in Perth, and dozens of other potentially deadly incidents in countries around the world. Imagine one of these Samsung POSes exploding in-flight!
Rushing to beat Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to market doesn’t seem like such a great idea now, does it?
“Australian airline companies were among the first to take measures. Qantas has asked passengers not to switch the Note 7 devices on and not to charge them during flights, its spokeswoman Sharna Rhys-Jones said,” Lowy reports. “Media reports said other Australian airlines took a similar step, including Jetstar Airways and Virgin Australia.”
