A lightweight energy bank good caused a fire that engulfed and destroyed a passenger aircraft in South Korea in January, according to local officials.
The Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country’s south on 28 January – causing three people on board to sustain minor injuries.
On Friday, South Korea’s carry government said that time research results indicate the flames may have started because coating inside a strength bank battery had broken down.
The energy bank was found in an overhead baggage area where the hearth was first detected, and its dust had heat signs, according to the statement.
Authorities had not declare what may have caused the battery break, it added.
The release is also based solely on interim results, and is not a last incident report on the plane, an Airbus A321ceo.
Flights around the world have banned energy banks from checked baggage for decades due to safety concerns, which relate to the lithium-ion chargers inside the products.
These batteries may develop intense heat and flames if injury or manufacturing faults cause them to little circuit.
Lithium-ion batteries of any kind have been banned from the cargo holds of customer flights since 2016, as per a mandate by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
In the week after the Air Busan fire, the flight tightened those rules more, announcing that it would no longer allow passengers to retain power banks in their onboard bag.
The carrier said the new rules were in response to an increase in the number of power banks that were overheating.
A growing number of airlines– including China Airlines and Thai Airways- are rolling out similar rules, with Singapore Airlines and its low-cost unit Scoot set to become the latest to ban the use and charging of power banks onboard from 1 April.
On 28 February, the South Korean government also announced that passengers boarding flights in the country would be required to carry portable batteries and chargers on their person, rather than storing them in overhead compartments.