Australian flyers, beware: flight attendants may ask you to put away your Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Following a global recall amid exploding batteries, Virgin Australia, Qantas, and its subsidiary Jetstar banned passengers from charging their Note 7’s in flight.
A Qantas passenger tweeted that the crew on his recent flight made an announcement asking passengers not to charge the smartphones. Qantas later confirmed that it had imposed a ban in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Following the worldwide recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Personal Electronic Device (PED), we are requesting that passengers do not charge them inflight,” a spokesperson said. Qantas and Virgin Australia initiated the bans on their own, explaining that Australian aviation authorities did not direct them to prevent passengers from charging the devices, according to Fortune.
In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it “strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage.”
There have been no reports of Note 7 phones exploding on commercial flights, but owners have continued to post footage of their devices catching fire this week. A man in St. Petersburg, Florida told a local TV stationtoday that his phone exploded while he was charging it in his Jeep, causing the SUV to erupt in flames.
When Samsung issued the recall on Sept. 1, it said there had been 35 confirmed cases worldwide of Note 7 explosions while charging. The company is working with suppliers to identify affected batteries in the market. Meanwhile, it has temporarily stopped sales and will offer current owners a full refund or a $25 incentive to switch to a different Samsung phone.
