An e-cigarette caught fire and caused an American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) plane to make an emergency landing on Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the matter to learn why the e-cigarette caught fire. The items aren’t allowed in checked luggage. However, they can be brought onto a plane via a carry-on bag.
Inspectors have already looked at the American Airlines Group Inc plane that the fire started in. There is no damage to the aircraft. All passengers and crew on the flight were unharmed. Passengers were taken from the plane and moved to a new one to finish their flight.
The flight with the malfunctioning e-cigarette was originally making its way to Indianapolis when the fire broke out. The emergency landing was made at the Clinton National Airport located in Little Rock, Ark., reports ABC News.
The fire in the American Airlines Group Inc flight started in the plane’s bathroom. It happened after one of the passengers took their e-cigarette into the bathroom to use it. The fire was quickly put out by flight attendants. According to FFA rules, passengers aren’t allowed to charge or use e-cigarette during flights.
“There was just a lot of panic in the plane and we just really quickly realized that we were going to do a quick descent,” Cindy Nelson, one of the passengers on the flight, told WRTV Indianapolis. “We still didn’t know what was going on and so we made the fastest descent I have ever experienced.”
