In a chilling incident, 108 passengers who boarded a Southwest Airlines flight were forced to evacuate on Friday after a passenger’s smartphone’s battery caught fire, causing a seat to burn into flames. According to CNN, the incident occurred in a Boeing 737-700 while preparing to leave the Denver International Airport.
In a video shared by Daily Mail on Instagram, cabin crew can be heard screeching and directing passengers to evacuate the plane immediately. “Get out, get out now,” the crew says in the video. The video also captures passengers’ panic as they grab their luggage and try to exit the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the airline told CNN that passengers in the back of the plane exited using the rear emergency slides while those towards the front evacuated through the front door via the jet bridge.
Watch here:
The video evoked a range of reactions, with one user commenting, “We should have automatic locks on overhead bins when an emergency is declared. Your stuff will pop the slide and slow the evacuation.” Another user wrote, “As a flight attendant, I would’ve thrown their stuff and made them get off without it. You’re holding people back from evacuating!”
“Only way would be to fine people $10,000 for each item they take in an evacuation,” a third user reacted. “Reaching for luggage etc not very smart,” another user wrote.
The report also stated that one passenger suffered a minor injury during the evacuation, and the passenger whose phone caught fire is currently being treated for burns. Crew members were successfully able to extinguish the seat fire.
Three hours later, the flight arrived at its destination at William P Hobby Airport in Houston.