A KLM flight from Amsterdam to Curaçao ended exactly where it began, nearly 11 hours after it took off. The culprit: an exploding power bank in the cabin — allegedly owned by none other than the airline's former chief executive.
Flight 735 left Amsterdam Schiphol on Thursday with 322 passengers on board. About five and a half hours in, while the aircraft was well out over the Atlantic, a loud bang was heard and flames shot up from above a seat. The device was a power bank, and passengers say it was being charged at the time. Cabin crew put out the fire quickly, but the captain decided there was no acceptable option other than turning around. The Boeing landed safely back at Schiphol around 8:40 p.m., with everyone having crossed a big chunk of the ocean for nothing.
The story went from odd to awkward fast. According to RTL Nieuws, multiple passengers identified the owner as Camiel Eurlings, who ran KLM as president and CEO in 2013 and 2014. The airline won't confirm the identity, citing privacy, and says it is still investigating whether the device was actually charging. Early reports said nobody was hurt; later claims suggest Eurlings suffered minor injuries. A passenger who spoke to him afterwards said he was shaken and felt awful about the disruption.
Here's the sting: KLM's own rules allow up to two power banks in hand luggage, but explicitly ban using or charging them in flight, and require the devices to stay visible rather than stowed in a bag. If the passenger accounts are right, the man who once led the airline broke its clearest safety rule. That matters because lithium batteries can go into thermal runaway without warning — intense heat, smoke and flames that are far more dangerous in a metal tube at 35,000 feet than almost anywhere else.
The reassuring part? The crew's response. Witnesses praised the flight attendants for dousing the fire, keeping everyone calm and then checking in individually with passengers seated nearby. It's also a good reminder of why spare batteries belong in the cabin, never in checked bags — a fire you can see and attack beats one smouldering in the hold.
KLM put all 322 passengers up in hotels overnight and flew them to Curaçao on a replacement aircraft the next morning. Expect an EU261 compensation payout on top of that.
For travellers, the practical takeaway is simple: know your airline's battery rules before you fly, keep power banks accessible in the cabin, and don't charge them mid-flight — even if you once ran the airline.