FAA warns flyers not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on planes
Less than a week after Samsung halted production and ordered a global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 models, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned travelers against using the phones onboard flights.
FAA warns flyers not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on planes
The tech giant announced last week that it would stop selling the product and recall 2.5 million devices because of a battery problem it believed affected 0.1 per cent of all phones sold.
Writing a statement on its website, the avaiation regulator said: "In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage."
USA today reports that in some cases, the phone's lithium battery sparked fires, including one that "destroyed" a jeep in Florida.
Questions have been raised as to whether the FAA and US airlines will be able to enforce to advisory in the air, with airline consultant Mike Boyd telling CNN cabin crews will face difficulties in this area.
"Can they enforce it? Like, you going to go through and make sure you don't have anything bigger than 3 ounces and no Note 7 phones? I don't think they're going to do that," he said. "There's no way of stopping somebody or searching everybody to make sure they don't have a [Note 7] on them."
A spokesperson for the FAA told the publication that "there has to be more staffing if this is going to be the case that they have to check every single phone for every single passenger on the plane."
Some operators, including Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines have already banned Note 7s on board, with crews making announcements to passengers about the rule before takeoff.