A KLM flight turned back over the Atlantic this week after a power bank caught fire in the cabin — and the passenger responsible turned out to be the airline's own former chief executive.
The incident involved KLM flight KL735, a Boeing 777-300ER flying from Amsterdam to Curacao on Thursday, 17 September 2026. The plane left Amsterdam at 3:21PM, nearly two hours behind its 1:25PM schedule, and everything was routine for about two and a half hours as it headed southwest toward the Caribbean. Then a power bank being used by a business class passenger caught fire, damaging the seat and surrounding cabin. The crew managed to put out the flames quickly, but the damage left part of the business class cabin visibly scorched.
With a burn mark and a fire risk onboard mid-ocean, the captain made the sensible call to return to Amsterdam. The 777 landed safely back at 8:42PM — roughly five hours and twenty minutes after departure, with the passengers no closer to Curacao than when they started. Everyone was rebooked onto other flights, and the aircraft will likely sit out of service for a while.
Here's the part that's making headlines: the passenger was Camiel Eurlings, who ran KLM as CEO from 2013 to 2014 and is now a Dutch politician. KLM's own rules state that passengers may carry up to two power banks, they must sit in carry-on bags and stay visible, and — crucially — they cannot be used during the flight. Eurlings was reportedly using his power bank while asleep, a combination of rule-breaking and what looks like sheer oversight, since business class on a 777 has in-seat power anyway. Whether he forgot the rules or assumed they didn't apply to him, nobody's saying.
If you're wondering whether he'll pay for the damage: apparently not. A KLM spokesperson confirmed the airline has no plans to fine him, and there's no sign his former-CEO travel privileges are being revoked either. Plenty of observers are noting he's getting off remarkably lightly given the potential severity of a battery fire at 35,000 feet.
Why should this matter to you if you're not a Dutch aviation executive? Because it's a sharp reminder of rules many travellers still fudge. Lithium battery fires are one of the most genuine in-flight risks, which is why power banks are banned from checked luggage everywhere and restricted in the cabin on most airlines. The KLM playbook — carry them in your hand luggage, keep them visible, don't plug anything into them mid-flight — is a good rule of thumb on any carrier. If your phone is dying, look for a seat outlet or USB port first; long-haul cabins almost always have them. And if your power bank is swollen, damaged, or unbranded, leave it at home entirely. A five-hour flight to nowhere and a scorched business class seat is the friendly version of how this story can end.