Passengers aboard a packed KLM plane were thrown into a panic when a portable cell phone charger caught fire halfway over the Atlantic Ocean.
The chaos erupted on Flight KL792 from São Paulo to Amsterdam on Wednesday while most passengers were sleeping, according to Brazilian journalist Simone Malagoli.
Malagoli, who was on the aircraft, said the flight was four hours away from landing when the portable charger burst into flames.
Flight attendants responded quickly by putting out the fire with extinguishers, the airline said in a statement.
Footage shared by Malagoli on Instagram showed smoke build up on the right side of the Boeing 777-300 as the journalist used a pillow to cover her nose.
A flight attendant could be seen walking down the aisle with a fire extinguisher and a piece of cloth over her head.
‘Suddenly, I hear a noise, a commotion,’ Malagoli said. ‘I look over, and there’s a lot of smoke in the next [aisle], a lot of smoke.’
Most of the passengers were unaware where the smoke originated from and some thought that there was a fire on the engine or the cargo area before they began to scream, ‘Fire, fire, fire.’
Brazilian journalist Simone Malagoli was on a packed KLF flight from São Paulo to Amsterdam on Wednesday when a passenger’s cell phone charger caught fire before flight attendants put out the flames with extinguishers
A KLM flight attendant carries an extinguisher after she and crew members were able to put out the fire on a burning cell phone charger
For a terrifying moment, Malagoli thought that the airplane was going to crash in the ocean and thought about reaching out to her loved ones.
‘I almost texted my parents to say goodbye because I really thought I was going to die.’
According to the flight attendants, the charger was inside the passenger’s backpack and not connected to the power outlet.
Malagoli wondered what would have happened if the power bank had been checked in with the luggage.
‘Imagine if a suitcase in the hold catches fire,’ she said. ‘Who would be able to control it?’
Simone Malagoli said she considered reaching out to her parents back home in Brazil because she was not sure the KLM Boeing 777-300 was going to make it to Amsterdam moments after a passenger’s cell phone charger got caught on fire
Smoke filled the cabin of a KLM flight as worried passengers covered their faces
In a statement provided to DailyMail, KLM credited its crew for following protocol and extinguishing the burning the device power bank.
‘The situation was brought under full control, and the flight continued safely to Amsterdam,’ the airline said.
‘All appropriate measures were taken to ensure the continued safety and comfort of our passengers.’
No injuries were reported.
