Source: Simon Hradecky | www.avherald.com

A United Boeing 777-200, registration N78001 performing flight UA-57 from Newark,NJ (USA) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), was enroute at FL330 over the Atlantic Ocean about 170nm northeast of St. John’s,NL (Canada) about to enter Oceanic Airspace when a passenger’s smartphone started to emit smoke signals. While flight attendants discharged Halon fire extinguishers onto the phone the flight crew declared emergency and requested to divert to St. John’s. The flight attendants extinguished the fire and put the smartphone into a secure container, the flight crew cancelled the emergency about 9 minutes after declaring emergency and requested to continue to their destination, where the aircraft landed about 6:50 hours after departure.

The Canadian TSB reported: “During cruise, as the aircraft was entering oceanic airspace, smoke was observed emanating from a passenger’s cell phone. The crew declared an emergency and ATC cleared them to the St. John’s International Airport (CYYT), NL. During that time, flight attendants discharged halon fire extinguishers and placed the cell phone in a thermal containment bag. No damage or injuries were reported. About 9 minutes after declaring the emergency, the crew cancelled the emergency and requested a clearance back to their original destination. The aircraft continued to LFPG without further incident.”