A plane carrying more than 180 people had to divert mid-flight after a passenger's power bank caught fire in the overhead locker, adding to a string of lithium battery scares on Indian carriers.
IndiGo flight 6E 6115 left Delhi for Chennai at 1.30pm on 11 October. Partway through the trip on the Airbus A321, smoke started pouring from an overhead bin, and footage shared online showed visible flames inside the compartment. Passengers tried to smother the fire with bags and cloth while the cabin crew grabbed firefighting gear; one traveller could be heard telling everyone to stay calm. The crew got it under control, and the pilots diverted to Hyderabad as a precaution, touching down safely at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport just before 4pm — roughly the time the flight should have been landing in Chennai. No one was hurt, and IndiGo put passengers on a replacement aircraft to finish the journey, offering refreshments and updates along the way.
The airline said the diversion followed its standard protocol after smoke was detected from a customer's personal electronic device.
What makes this worth attention is the pattern. In May this year, a power bank ignited on an IndiGo flight after landing in Chandigarh from Hyderabad, with smoke and flames spreading through the cabin. That evacuation left six people hospitalised. Last October, another power bank caught fire in a seat-back pocket on a Delhi to Dimapur flight while the aircraft was taxiing for take-off. India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, has already told airlines to ban using power banks to charge devices in flight.
For travellers, the practical rules are worth repeating: power banks contain lithium-ion batteries, the same chemistry found in phones and laptops that can overheat and ignite. They are never allowed in checked baggage — they must travel in the cabin, where any fire can be spotted and tackled quickly. Watt-hour limits vary by airline, so check your carrier's rules before flying, keep power banks accessible rather than buried in a stuffed locker, and avoid charging devices on board where it's prohibited. If a battery starts smoking near you, alert the crew immediately and follow instructions — on this flight, a calm cabin and a fast crew response almost certainly prevented a much worse outcome.
