3 Injured as smoking laptop force evacuation of American Airlines plane
Smoke from a passenger’s laptop prompted the evacuation of an American Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport Friday.
Airport officials said American Airlines Flight 2045 was about to take off for Miami at about 12:17 p.m. PDT when the crew reported smoke in the cabin.
Crew members evacuated the Airbus A321 aircraft and removed the source of the smoke, which was a laptop in a passenger’s bag.
The San Francisco Fire Department arrived on the scene and extinguished the laptop by submerging it in a tub of water. Fire department officials said the smoke was caused by a lithium-ion battery fire.
Some passengers used emergency slides to evacuate the plane, while others used the jet bridge, American Airlines said.
“We thank our crew members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said in a statement.
A spokesperson with the San Francisco International Airport told CBS News that three passengers suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. One person was transported to a hospital for treatment.
Flight 2045 was delayed and is now scheduled to leave at 11:15 p.m., according to the airline’s website. It would arrive in Miami at 8:40 a.m. EDT Saturday.
