The news last week mentioned airlines adding safety gear to enable cabin crew members to handle self-immolating cell phones and place them in fireproof bags.
Which makes me wonder: how long does a cell phone take to burn up? The problematic phase (AIUI) is the vigorous release of energy from the battery; once that’s done, you’ve just got smoldering plastic, the flames of which are relatively easy to smother. But if the battery is done spewing energy in the space of thirty seconds, a flight attendant is not going to have time to comprehend the situation, run to the front/back of the cabin, put the gear on, and come back to grab the flaming phone and bag it; by the time they return all geared up, the passengers on scene will have smothered the burning plastic with blankets and sweaters and what-not.
So…does the battery fire/explosion typically take place in ~thirty seconds, or ~ten minutes? Is this new safety gear likely to ever prove useful, or is it just a security blanket?
Effective two days ago the FAA has banned all Note 7s aboard aircraft, period amen. Not turned off, not on your person, not in your carryon, not in your checked bags, not as belly cargo, not on a FedEx or UPS jet. Period amen, no Galaxy Note 7s on aircraft.
