By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-06-18 05:06:03 | Updated at 2026-06-18 08:01:16
3 hours ago
A British Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing after an explosion sparked fears of a "terrorist incident" on board.
Passengers on the flight from London to Las Vegas panicked after an object on the jet combusted at 30,000 feet, sending smoke around the cabin.
The pilot of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was heard telling air traffic controllers he was "trying to keep the panic to a minimum".
But the cause of the combustion was much more mundane - a portable phone charger which exploded and caught fire inside.
A source told The Sun: "The pilot told air traffic controllers there was panic onboard, and he was not wrong.
"The explosion, fire, then smell of smoke was terrifying. It was as if a bomb had gone off.
"People thought it might be a terrorist incident."
The owner of the power bank began charging their phone began to panic because the device "began smouldering", the passenger said.
The explosion within the British Airways flight caused the passenger's fold-out table to be completely charred
GETTY
Images shared by the passenger showed the plane's fold-out table completely charred.
"The device was so hot it scorched the cabin floor where it landed. It was pandemonium onboard," a passenger said.
She said the British Airways crew acted "brilliantly" as they put out the fire with an extinguisher.
"It had melted of the seat and the floor. Scorch marks were everywhere," she added.
A passenger said the British Airways crew acted brilliantly
GETTY
Describing it as a very "scary experience", the passenger said power banks on planes must be addressed.
A spokesman for British Airways said: "The safety of our customers and crew is the highest priority, the flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally."
Last month, an EasyJet flight to London Luton was diverted to Rome after a power bank in the hold posed a threat.
And in October last year, an Air China flight devolved into panic after lithium batteries within a phone charger combusted.
Power banks are banned from being placed in checked luggage.
Passengers are also prohibited from using their power banks to recharge their phones while in air.
Jonathan Nicholson from the Civil Aviation Authority said restrictions, including not putting devices in checked luggage, were not "for the sake of it".
He told the BBC: "I wouldn't want to be the passenger who packed it in the wrong place and ended up with all the other passengers in the wrong city because the flight was diverted."
