Tuesday, February 28, 2023 | 08:55 WIB
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RADARSEMARANG.ID, Jakarta – Lion Air canceled a flight on Sunday (26/2) because a passenger's cellphone caught fire. The incident occurred on a Boeing 737-900ER aircraft registered PK LQS that was about to fly to Surabaya from El Tari Airport, Kupang.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) Adita Irawati revealed that the plane experienced an incident during preparation for takeoff at 06.15 WITA.
The plane was carrying 159 passengers and 4 crew. At that time, a passenger felt the cellphone in his pocket was hot. "Then, the cellphone was taken out of his pocket in a smoking and burning condition," he explained.
Panicking, the passenger finally threw his cellphone on the floor of the aircraft cabin. Then stepped on it to put out the fire that appeared. As a result of the incident, the smoke detector sensor in the aircraft cabin sounded. Spontaneously, other passengers opened the plane's emergency window without waiting for a signal from the cabin crew.
Because the situation was already panicky, the flight attendant finally opened the plane door and asked the passengers to exit in an orderly manner. "Finally, all passengers exited the plane towards the apron," he explained. The smoke coming out of the plane's cabin was also monitored by the air traffic controller (ATC).
He explained that the cause of the incident needed to be investigated. However, this was not the domain of the Ministry of Transportation. "There are experts who must conduct an investigation," he said in a written statement yesterday (27/2).
He said that all passengers had been handled well. A total of 134 passengers were re-departed on a replacement plane. Then, 10 passengers were transferred to Lion Air JT 697, 10 passengers got their tickets refunded, and 5 other passengers were rescheduled.
What about the passenger who opened the emergency window? After being questioned, he was also sent off using the JT 693 KOE-SUB plane on the same day. According to information, he was allowed to continue the journey because when he opened the emergency smoke detector door in the aircraft cabin sounded.
"Meanwhile, the passenger who had a burning cellphone was rescheduled to depart with JT 693 KOE-SUB STD this morning (yesterday, Ed)," he explained.
In another section, aviation observer Alvin Lie said that the case of a burning cellphone on a plane must be investigated further. This is because the incident is very rare, unlike a power bank that explodes.
"This needs to be checked, whether the cellphone was just in a pocket or while being charged. If the cellphone was not used, it would not have been hot," he said.
He said that passengers actually do not need to panic when they see a burning cellphone. Just report it to the officer so that it can be handled immediately. Moreover, there is also a light fire extinguisher (APAR) on the plane. The cabin crew has also conducted surveillance to deal with all problems on the plane.
"The panic actually made other passengers panic. So that in the end other passengers opened the emergency door without any instructions from the cabin crew," he explained.
With someone opening the emergency door, he continued, it actually made the incident more fatal. In fact, the incident of a burning cellphone is a minor problem that can be immediately resolved in the cabin. "Previously, there was a power bank that caught fire and it was very easy to overcome," he said.
Therefore, said Alvin, passengers who open the emergency door without instructions from the cabin crew need to be processed further. "There are sanctions. The rules are in Article 54 of Law Number 1 of 2009 concerning Aviation," he said.
Lion Air Corporate Communications Strategic Danang Mandala Prihantoro explained that the investigation by the civil aviation investigation team is still ongoing. The goal is to find out whether the plane is still airworthy after the incident.
"The results of the investigation will be used to get recommendations to improve safety and security," he said.
He said that the incident of a burning cellphone on the plane must receive attention. "This is not a trivial matter," said Danang. Therefore, Lion Air will actively participate in the investigation.
In the photo received by Jawa Pos from a source, the cellphone is not only seen on fire. But also separated into three parts. The LCD part does look burnt and cracked. Moreover, the blue cellphone battery was not perfect. There were also other parts that melted due to the heat.
Separately, KNKT Public Relations Indrianto revealed that his institution did not investigate the incident. "Because it is not included in what must be investigated by KNKT according to PP No. 62 of 2013 concerning Transportation Accidents," he said. (gih/lyn/c19/oni)