Twice in the past two weeks, SWISS flights between Zurich and the United States have had to make emergency landings.
What are the odds that a flight operated by the same airline on almost the same route has to divert from its original destination and land elsewhere?
If the airline is Switzerland’s national carrier, the odds are significant.
What is happening?
Less than two weeks apart, overheated electronic devices belonging to passengers have forced two Swiss flights to make unscheduled landings.
In the first case, on July 27th, a headphone charging case fell between seat cushions and subsequently overheated on a flight from Zurich to New York, filling the Business cabin with smoke.
Not knowing immediately what the cause of the smoke was, the aircraft declared an emergency and had to land in Bangor, Maine.
Déjà-vu
Fast forward to August 9th, when another SWISS flight – this time from Zurich to Boston – had been en-route for three hours when smoke was detected in the cabin.
It made a swift u-turn and landed at the nearest airport, Dublin.
In this particular case (and unbeknownst to the pilots at the time) a smoking power bank had triggered the incident.
This may prove a point: that passengers don’t heed the warnings issued by the airlines.
From January 15th, SWISS and its sister airline Edelweiss introduced new regulations on the carrying and use of power banks on board their aircraft.
From that date, power banks may no longer be used or charged during the flight.
Charging the power bank itself from the aircraft’s electrical power supply is also now prohibited.
“The new rules enhance safety on board for both passengers and crew members: with its lithium battery, a malfunctioning power bank is a potential fire risk,” the airlines said.
This means that the passengers who caused these incidents have clearly disobeyed the rules.
This is what you should know before flying:
READ MORE: Swiss flight passengers face new rules for taking power banks on planes
