checked bags because they can become so flammable. the chemical inside is very dangerous. this is flight 2664. it was on his way from san diego to newark. i m hearing it was a battery pack, an external battery pack caught fire, and a crew used something called a thermal containment bag to keep the fire from spreading throughout the cabin. it s been on airplanes since about 2016 because of the fire risk posed by lithium batteries. the flight was only in the air for about ten minutes, but ultimately about six people had to be treated by emergency workers on the scene there. four of them went to the hospital, but this was such a big risk on board airplanes, these lithium airplanes. in fact, back in 2015, a ups flight crashed because of a shs shipment of lithium batteries on board caught fire. there is a serious risk here, and the faa and ntsb have put
have been at least 414 incidents of lithium batteries catching fire or overheating on airplanes in the u.s. 49 involving laptops. here is what it looks like when one of those batteries explodes. the demonstration shows how intense the fire can burn. on flight 2664, united confirms a customer s battery ignited and the crew acted quickly to contain the device. the airline rebooked terrified passengers. i m shaking. i m shaking. reporter: now united s as several flight attendants were taken to the hospital as a precaution. they used a fire proof enclosure to smother the flames, and norah, this is my lithium batteries are not allowed in checked luggage. you have to carry them on. norah: they are a no-no. carter evans, thank you so much. now to that smoldering, toxic scene in ohio. authorities there say the danger from that train derailment near the ohio-pennsylvania border is far from over, and there is no
you asking how you can help, and we ll have that for you a little later. in the meantime, we turn to the news back here at home tonight, and to the midair scare onboard a united flight. a lithium battery catching fire. passengers screaming. the pilots turning the plane around. air traffic control radioing the pilots, saying they could not hear them. abc s mola lenghi from california tonight. reporter: the fire broke out in first class, minutes after united flight 2664 7:30 a.m. liftoff from san diego. all of a sudden, there was some smoke, a guy next to me two seats over started to scream. and then i saw a flash of fire. i grabbed the girl next to me and we just really held onto each other. reporter: quick-thinking crew members put the burning battery into a thermal fireproof bag, stowing it in the bathroom. air traffic controllers at one point unable to hear the pilots as they raced back to san diego. air 2664, i understand you might be on masks there, i
aboard a flight from san diego to new newark, new jersey. a backpack caught fire in theop we have more now fm s carter evans. repr: flames b flight 2664 took off from san diego this morning. there was a gentleman. his bag was smoking and he threw something out on the ground, and it was a battery charger pack or something like that from his laptop. and it burst into fire. i hear somebody yell fire, look forward, saw that, could see the glow. reporter: the boeing 737 with 159 passengers on board was in the air for a total of 11 minutes. it was headed to newark international before returning to the airport as smoke began filling the cabin. some were gasping, screaming. the guy next to me around to the back of the plane. flight attendants were grabbing fire extinguishers and running to the front. reporter: since 2006, there
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) has filed a Mandatory Occurrence Report with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) following the recent technical issue and incident involving flight MH2664.