For the third time in ten days, a device has caught fire onboard an aircraft.

Source: Codi Wilson and Rachael D’Amore | CTV News Toronto

An Air Canada flight was delayed at Pearson International Airport this morning after a passenger’s cellphone caught fire on the plane, the airline said. Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for Air Canada, said there were 266 customers on board the flight, which was headed to Vancouver. He said the phone caught fire at around 7 a.m. as the flight crew was preparing for takeoff.

“The fire was immediately extinguished by our crew and there was no damage to the aircraft,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. Toronto Coun. Joe Cressy was aboard the plane when he said he heard “a commotion” 15 to 20 rows behind him. He said staff immediately snapped into action, extinguishing the fire and calling for any medical professional aboard to come and help.

Brandon Scott, who was also on the flight, compared the fire to a “small campfire-sized flame.”

“I heard yelling, it just seemed like pandemonium, there was confusion about what was going on and people were jumping out of their seats,” Scott said. “I looked behind and in the aisle and it looked like a small campfire-sized flame.”

While it is not known why the phone caught fire, nor has the make or model of the phone been confirmed, CTV’s technology analyst Carmi Levy said occurrences of phones catching fire are becoming increasingly common.

“When it works, lithium-ion is a great technology for mobile devices but if the battery is damaged, if it runs hot, if there’s something wrong with the device… it could be, essentially, a bomb in your pocket,” he said.