Vapes on a Plane
An ecig grounds a flight in Alaska and India extends its ban on ecigs on planes.
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by Dave Cross
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Wiberg took his device onto a Norwegian Air flight, plugged it in and woke to find smoke billowing from it. Having burnt his hands, the genius decided that it was the airline’s fault, not his, and has elected to sue them. Vapers will be concerned that such behaviour will only serve to the detriment of vaping’s reputation.
Passengers on Flight 67 from Seattle to Anchorage were stranded in Ketchikan for five hours last Sunday, initial claims where that somebody’s vape had exploded. A witness said: “And I heard sort of a whooshing sound, like a quick hiss of air, and I looked up and about 3 rows in front of me a guy’s backpack started smoking and burst into orange and blue flame. He quickly got it off and hit it to the ground and some other passengers got up and started stomping on it.”
The witness spoke to the other passenger, it transpires it was another case of loose change causing an electrical short: “He held up the charger itself. And it looked like there were some coins in the bottom and somehow made contact with that. And he also had several charred quarters sitting on the table as well.”
Alaska Airlines clarified the situation: “Technical experts believe that when the batteries came in contact with metal keys and coins it caused a spark. There was visible smoke, and a set of keys and candy fell to the ground through a burnt hole in the backpack. While there was not fire, there was sparking, which prompted the flight attendants to take swift action and use the fire extinguisher.”
The incident followed on from one earlier in the month where buckets of fish and formaldehyde spilt and leaked into cargo on a flight.
POTV always suggests that if batteries are being carried in bags or luggage then they should be stored in an insulating package or box. As more airline companies opt for more stringent terms for passengers, this is vitally important to avoid future incidents.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation has now extended its ban on vaping products to fall in line with other international operators. Vapers are now banned from placing products into luggage destined for the hold and are banned from charging them while in flight.
“International Air Transport Association in their guidance on e-cigarettes notes that 'several incidents have been reported involving electronic cigarettes overheating by way of their heating element being accidentally activated, resulting in a fire in checked baggage',” it writes. “Spare lithium batteries and e-cigarettes must be put in carry-on bags. In addition, recharging of e-cigarettes and/or batteries on board the aircraft is not permitted.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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