Cellphone battery sparks fire, evacuations on Southwest flight at Denver International Airport

Everyone on board a Southwest Airlines flight at Denver International Airport was evacuated safely Friday morning after a cellphone battery ignited. It happened on board Southwest Airlines Flight 3316 before 7 a.m. as the plane was getting ready to depart for Houston. 

According to Southwest, the aircraft was still at the gate when the fire started. The crew was able to extinguish a seat fire caused by the burning cellphone. The passenger who had the phone suffered burns and was treated by local medical personnel.

Southwest told CBS News Colorado that there were 108 passengers on board when the fire started. Those passengers in the back of the aircraft used the rear emergency slides and those in the front of the plane exited through the front door. One passenger suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. 

The incident is being investigated and Southwest released this statement, “Southwest’s Customer Care Team is working to accommodate the passengers on another aircraft to their original destination of Houston. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees.”

According to a CBS News Investigation published last year, similar incidents have been happening much more frequently in the skies over the United States. The FAA verifies the number of lithium-ion battery fires jumped more than 42% in the last five years.