Travel warning after common item causes plane to divert due to ‘smoke in the cabin’ – and you’ve likely packed it

TravelNews Travel TRAVELLERS are being warned about taking a popular everyday item on board flights. Earlier this week, a Swiss International Air Lines flight was diverted to Bangor in Maine, America, due to smoke in the cabin. A plane was forced to divert earlier this week when a headphone charging case overheated Credit: Swiss International Air Lines The smoke came from a damaged headphone charging case, which had fallen between the seats and become stuck, causing it to overheat. The plane had come from Zurich in Switzerland and was heading for JFK Airport in New York. Sign up for the Travel newsletter Thank you! According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) incidents involving lithium batteries – which are found in headphone charging cases, as well as power banks – are on the rise. Any items with lithium batteries have to go in hand luggage. Read more on travel inspo These include: Power banks Vapes Bluetooth speakers Electric fans Fitness and smartwatches Digital cameras Wireless headphones & charging cases Tablets E-readers Laptops The CAA has warned that if any of these cause an issue during a flight, such as overheating or starting to smoke, you should notify a member of the cabin crew as quickly as possible. If these items aren’t packed correctly, such as in your hold luggage and not your hand luggage, there could be flight delays or cancellations as a result. Most read in Travel Headphone charging cases contain lithium batteries, which are increasingly causing issues on flights Credit: Getty Back in May, an easyJet flight had to divert when a passenger informed crew during the flight that the portable charger was in the hold of the aircraft. The flight was then forced to land in Rome, Italy, instead of reaching its destination, London Luton. The CAA previously commented: “Passenger awareness remains low – over a third (36 per cent) of travellers are unaware of the dangers of packing batteries in checked baggage, even though 92 per cent fly with a mobile phone, 55 per cent with a laptop and 49 per cent with a power bank – suggesting hundreds of batteries could be incorrectly packed on a typical flight.” According to the CAA, there are around two lithium battery incidents every week – and often, these incidents cause delays as well as diversions. Comment now