In an extremely rare warning, the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, has called on all Galaxy Note 7 users not to take the new Samsung phones with them on flights so as to avoid setting planes on fire.
This is even as the FAA warned passengers not to turn on, charge or put their phones in their check-bags during flights, because of concerns about the device, which has now been singled out as a potential airborne fire hazard.
In a strongly worded statement released on Thursday evening, the FAA said that “In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage.”
Also, Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have offered similar advice to customers, with Qantas “requesting that passengers who own [the devices] do not switch on or charge them in-flight”.
The statement is coming barely a week after Samsung, announced a global recall and replacement program for millions of Galaxy Note 7 devices because of batteries exploding or catching fire.
Intervening on the ban, the International Air Transportation Association states, revealed that Samsung are not the first company to have battery problems.
“Although Samsung is the most recent company advising of faulty devices, others have issued similar recalls and warnings regarding lithium batteries in laptops over the last 12 months, so the industry is familiar with and equipped to manage such situations,” the IATA said.
The never-seen-before step of singling out Galaxy Note 7 by the U.S. air-safety regulators on board airliners, have now dealt another blow to the technology giant’s smartphone recovery efforts.
The situation is quite embarrassing for one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers, but they have acted strongly in a pragmatic fashion by offering all customers a replacement Note 7 as a precaution.
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