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American Airlines laptop fire highlights rising lithium battery risk
The FAA is investigating, and aviation insurers are treating lithium battery incidents as a systemic underwriting exposure as losses erode airline premium bases.
A recent American Airlines flight incident involving smoke and fire from a customer laptop is adding to a broader pattern of lithium battery events in commercial aviation, with CBS News reporting audio that captured a pilot saying four to five passengers had been burned before flight attendants contained the device in a thermal bag and moved it to the middle of the aircraft.
The flight, which had 133 people aboard and departed Atlanta, landed safely around 6:55 p.m. local time as emergency personnel met the plane on arrival, according to American Airlines, which said the landing occurred after reports of smoke from a customer device during landing, and thanked its crew for their response. The FAA is investigating.
The incident follows another American Airlines episode earlier this year, when a laptop ignited inside a carry-on bag during boarding of Flight 2045 from San Francisco to Miami, leading to a full evacuation and three minor injuries, with no further injuries reported in the follow-up account.
More widely, Insurance Business cites FAA-recorded 58 verified lithium battery air incidents this year involving smoke, fire, or extreme heat, with laptop batteries the most frequent device category over the past two decades at 84 cases. The outlet also points to non-US examples including an EasyJet flight diverted after a power bank was found charging in checked luggage, while noting that aviation insurers and risk analysts are increasingly framing lithium battery claims as a systemic underwriting concern rather than a rare edge case at a time when airline premium bases have been pressured by consecutive loss-making years and underwriters are looking toward rate increases into 2026.