A Vancouver-bound Air Canada flight departing from Toronto Pearson Airport was delayed Thursday morning after a passenger’s LG smartphone caught fire.
Air Canada officials said flight AC101 was preparing to depart around 7 a.m. when a passenger’s cellphone started to burn.
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Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said in an email statement that the fire was extinguished by in-flight crew members and there was no damage to the aircraft.
A female passenger suffered minor injuries. She was treated by emergency services personnel before walking off the plane and taken to hospital.
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Peel Regional Police said the woman suffered burns to her body and clothing. Authorities said the cellphone catching fire was not criminal in nature.
Officials said the aircraft was a Boeing 787-9 with 266 passengers on board. The flight managed to depart Toronto for Vancouver after a two-hour delay.
Toronto City Councillor Joe Cressy said he was on the flight and called Air Canada staff “quick and professional” in their response to the incident.
“Any time you’re in a plane and you look behind you and there’s smoke and yelling, there’s a moment of real concern and fear,” Cressy told The Canadian Press.
“But frankly, thanks to the exceptionally professional response of the Air Canada staff, that concern went away and we were up in the air in two hours.”
Cressy said that the situation changed quickly from him wondering whether he was in danger to only having to worry how long the delay would be.
“Had this happened while we were mid-flight it would be a very different feeling,” he said.
“But the fact we were on the tarmac alleviated the situation to some degree.”
A spokesperson for LG Canada said in a statement released Thursday afternoon that the company is aware of the incident. Alissa Liotti said “consumer and product safety is a top priority.”
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“We take these claims very seriously and are in the process of gathering information in order to determine what may have occurred with this particular device,” she wrote.
It is unclear how the LG smartphone caught fire.
— With files from The Canadian Press and Nick Westoll
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