The problems of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 are making airlines think about things that did not make sense just a few weeks ago. It is not the first time that a mobile device burns in these ways, in fact, we could say that it is almost common, however, when they do it for several daily and from a company as important as Samsung, everything takes on much more notoriety. If airlines around the world have already practically banned traveling with a Galaxy Note 7, now They are considering including fire retardant bags in the seats for users to insert their mobile devices.
For an electronic device to catch fire on a flight is a really rare event, so much so that Only 129 incidents have been opened in this regard in 25 years. The problem is that 23 of these incidents occurred in 2016, of which we have already been 10 months. The problem seems to be the mobile devices of dubious quality brands, accompanied by an inordinate power of the devices, with a rather outdated energy storage technology. We are not just talking about mobile devices, we have eReaders, cameras and tablets too.
Some companies such as Alaska Air and Virgin Air already include fireproof boxes in the departments, and teach users how to use them in case of spontaneous fire of their devices before taking off. Delta Airlines, meanwhile, intends to include fire retardant bags on all seats for its 166 aircraft.
Any security measure in the air is little, and Delta Airlines intends to complete the project by the end of the year. Meanwhile, other airlines are considering copying the idea of their Delta colleagues, something that would not surprise us and that is endorsed by the FAA. It seems that the fire of mobile devices is gaining more and more notoriety, perhaps a new debate about lithium batteries will open soon. We will be attentive during the Mobile World Congress to see if someone deigns to present an alternative battery.