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iPhone Auto-Combusts On Australian Airplane
First time accepted submitter thegreymonkey writes "Last Friday, an iPhone caught fire on flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney. This incident is under investigation from Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This accident might be related to the iPhone battery again." Whether it "caught fire" may be a matter of semantics; as reported in the above linked story and by Network World (hat tip to reader alphadogg), though, the iPhone "started glowing red and emitting dense smoke."
Sounds more like a job for an exorcist. I banish thee, Steve!
http://xkcd.com/651/
Seems like Randall has predicted the future again!
I don't want to start a "TSA is a bunch of idiots" thread but I'm honestly surprised that this hasn't happened more often.
We don't live in Shouldland.
Mobile phones will be prohibited on flights.
(But there are drawbacks as well; think laptops with lithium-ion batteries.)
It is an iPhone therefore it is a feature.
The guy was just running the iHotplate app to warm up his coffee.
Nothing here to see, move along.
Trolling is a art,
Energetic chemistry is energetic.
Go find some RC enthusiasts and ask them if they've seen LiPos burn. There's a good chance they have.
That's why we charge our batteries in a lipo bag or other fireproof container.
Of course, RC batteries are abused much more than those in phones, but it's highly non-surprising that occasionally one lights on fire.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
The phone realized via it's GPS and flight tracker where it was headed and offed itself.
Between this, the Volt battery going up in flames and on a smaller scale the Belgian Post e-bikes catching fire, I am very worried about the fast deployment of Li-ion batteries in many fields.
I am a researcher in Li-ion batteries, and I know how dangerous those little buggers can be, but also how many efforts are done to make them safer. However, you can't take bad manufacturing out of the equation, and you should always ask yourself why a no-name chinese battery costs 1/3 of the original battery.
It would be nice to know if the phone was ever dropped, or its battery replaced at any point, or if a non-standard charger was used.
...glowing and smoking=combustion (not necessarily fire), but yeah. I've had a few such devices (one phone, two mp3 players, one bluetooth headset) crack off while plugged in to a third party charger (they were all chargeable through USB but all I had available at the time was an unregulated 6V adapter and a 4-port USB brick). Lesson learned; use manufacturer-approved chargers with Li-Ion! The battery technology uses pulse modulated charging current; DC (via a Powermonkey or suchlike) or unregulated DC (cheap adapter where the output voltage can vary wildly) can cause serious damage to the battery. I also read somewhere (it might have been on an iPhone 3G battery) that deforming the battery in any way (like, sitting on the phone?) might cause a short.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
I would love to see them ban computers and cellphones because that would effect frequent business travelers, and perhaps cause some pushback against the insanity of airline security.
Modern government could be summarised with the tagline: "The infrastructure exists for the corporation."
So that won't happen.
they were holding it wrong.
It's probably a battery manufactured by Sony which isn't designed to be used upside-down.
the iPhone "started glowing red and emitting dense smoke.
That's what you get for installing the antichrist app. Idiot.
Coincidentally yesterday I was driving while the kids watched movies on DVD players. Then Bang a huge explosions and plastic and metal go flying. The cigarette lighter power adapters conditioning electronics had exploded. I didn't drive off the road but could have. It looks like the culprit was a kink in the cord, perhaps from getting caught in a door at some point, causing a short. The violence of the explosion was surprising both literally and figuratively. You just don't realize how explosive your consumer electronics can be when they go bad.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Exactly what is the difference between a no-name Chinese battery, and a named Chinese battery, besides cost?
The name, obviously.
This post comes with a double-your-money-back guarantee!
Any offense taken to this post is at your sole discretion.
You would probably see a little smoke, possibly get a pop with some plastic shrapnel that travels 6-10 inches from the device, and a rather embarrassed terrorist who has no clue that a phone battery isn't any danger to a plane.
Seriously...wtf?
How hot does it have to be "Glowing Red". Wow.
Who said it was? To prevent things like this you have to take the battery out. Oh, wait
Hell with that! I want to see it on Mythbusters!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
You all mocked the airlines- but turns out they were right.
Using electronic devices on planes IS dangerous.
On a more serious note- wonder if any airlines will take this too far and completely ban cell-phones/smart phones etc from being carried on to the plane.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Quick, somebody register "damnyouautocombust.com"!
Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
You can't. Not without breaking it....
You try putting out a lithium fire by throwing water on it - I dare you.
Your fire will be extinguished by the hydrogen + air explosion. Even if it doesn't, the original fire will be the least of your concerns.
A ban on phones with non-removable batteries may be necessary. You can carry the phone on board, but the battery has to go in a plastic bag in luggage.
Obvious troll is obvious. This was one incident and we do not know what the circumstances were. It is possible that the passenger had sat on the phone by having it in their back pocket and then battery could have ignited after the glass punctured the battery and sweat reacted with the lithium.
I'd rather have twice (or more) the battery life per charge than a removable battery which is one reason I have an iPhone 4S instead of an android handset.
Where are you going to keep those extra batteries that you have to swap throughout the day when you are not on a plane? What happens when you have then in your pocket with some keys and one of the keys short the terminals on a battery in your pocket?
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
If apple sources from a manufacturer then it's there job to assure that company's product works exactly as expected. So it would still be there fault if a phone had issues.
Well the problem was exactly that they couldn't get it any cooler. They tried to blow on it and turn it off, but it was still red-hot.
If the battery manufacturer screwed the pooch, its Apple's fault?
They would be accountable, yes.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Any power adapter should be able to survive a complete short on the output if it is designed properly.
And as we all know, the consumer electronics market is known for its high quality and attention to detail in their designs and build quality. ;-)
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.