Narrow escape for airline passenger flying from India to Sri Lanka ... with recharge battery pack catching fire!

Narrow escape for airline passenger flying from India to Sri Lanka ... with recharge battery pack catching fire!

Several Lithium batteries inside a bag of a passenger travelling on flight UL 155 belonging to Sri Lankan Airways flying from Cochin Airport in India to Katunayaka Airport had got burnt out day-before-yesterday (30) and because of the adroitness of the flight crew it was possible to land the plane at the scheduled time without any hazard, the company state.

There had been 202 passengers inclusive of the flight staff at the moment of the said incident and after the plane was made to land at Katunayaka Airport without any problem the passengers had

applauded and appreciated the staff, Sri Lankan Airways has issued an announcement. After a period of 70 minutes had elapsed since the plane took flight, and after refreshments etcetera were served and finished the flight officers have noticed a smoke emanating from the cabin where luggage was deposited and promptly the manager in charge of the cabins had notified the Pilot about this. On this occasion members of the staff of cabins have taken action to dispel the smoke using extinguishers and later, steps were taken to transport the bag concerned to the cabin service station; immersing the bag in water. Through this procedure it had been possible to extinguish the smoke entirely and thus bring the situation under control. On opening it, it was possible to find some Lithium batteries and 2 mobile phones inside the bag.

As such, the cabin crew had taken action to notify flight controllers at Katunayaka Bandaranaike International Airport without any delay and arrangements were made to land the flight in the normal fashion and the passengers to exit in the normal manner. After the plane landed, specialists of hazardous equipment, firemen including safety teams were summoned to the plane under reference while the flight staff who took a hand in successfully handling this situation came in for appreciation of rverybody. The Sri Lankan Airways have handed this matter for investigation to Sri Lanka authorities.