China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) and EVA Air (長榮航空) yesterday announced that all passengers and air crew are prohibited from bringing Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones onto airplanes heading to the US, including Guam and Hawaii, with immediate effect.
The air carriers made the announcement after the US Department of Transportation issued a ban on the Samsung devices on airplanes, which applies to both carry-on and checked baggage. The ban went into effect last night.
Since the Galaxy Note 7 was launched in August, almost 100 incidents of the devices overheating and even catching fire have been reported worldwide, including in Taiwan. The problem has not been resolved since Samsung recalled the phones last month.
PHOTO: EPA
Earlier this week, Samsung announced that it had stopped sales and exchanges of the smartphone and would end production of the model and give customers refunds.
Under an emergency US order that significantly expands restrictions on the Note 7 devices, airline passengers who try to bring Note 7 smartphones on US flights will have them confiscated and could face fines.
The devices will not be allowed aboard passenger or cargo aircraft even if they have been turned off, the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the US Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday.
“We recognize that banning these phones from airlines will inconvenience some passengers, but the safety of all those aboard an aircraft must take priority,” US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “We are taking this additional step because even one fire incident inflight poses a high risk of severe personal injury and puts many lives at risk.”
Samsung on Tuesday said it was halting production and sales of the device following the latest spate of smoke, overheating and fire incidents in what was supposed to be the replacement version of the device that changed a faulty lithium-ion battery with a safe one.
The company estimates the crisis will cost it US$5.3 billion in profits.
The US government urged passengers not to sidestep the order.
“Passengers who attempt to evade the ban by packing their phone in checked luggage are increasing the risk of a catastrophic incident,” the US Department of Transportation said in a statement.
“Anyone violating the ban may be subject to criminal prosecution in addition to fines,” it added.
People who have the phones and are already traveling are to contact Samsung or their telecommunications provider “immediately” to arrange for a replacement phone.
The US government now considers the Note 7s “forbidden hazardous material” under law. Anyone seen with one of the phones will be prohibited from boarding an aircraft, the release said.
Airlines and an industry trade group were notified of the impending ban by the US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday.
The expanded action bans the devices from all flights and applies to all Samsung smartphones covered by the latest recall.
FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc, two major delivery services in the US, had already said they would not ship the phones via planes, restricting them to ground vehicles. The devices also have to be packed in special boxes designed to safely house the recalled batteries.
Delta Air Lines Inc is adding special containment bags for phones or other electronic devices that overheat or catch fire to at least some of its aircraft, the carrier said on a conference call on Thursday.
Southwest Airlines Co is in the process of selecting a vendor for similar bags and hopes to have them on its planes early next year, spokeswoman Lori Crabtree said.
Sydney-based Qantas Airways Ltd and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd on Saturday said they had banned Samsung Note 7 phones from all their flights.
Lithium-based batteries power millions of devices, from smartphones and laptops to power tools. They hold enough energy to create heat and sparks if they fail, which can ignite the highly flammable chemicals inside.
Samsung is working with US officials and airlines to notify owners of the phone about the emergency order, Samsung Electronics America spokeswoman Sung In-cho said in an e-mail.
At least 13 people reported being burned by the devices and in 47 cases there was damage to property, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
The initial wave of Note 7 failures were linked to batteries made by one of two suppliers to Samsung.
The cells had been squeezed into a container pouch so tightly that when they were installed in the phones they became pinched, damaging the interior.
That led to short circuits that triggered the failures, Kaye said last month.
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