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| VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YFY (MSN 41016) |
Around 9am, the aircraft was beginning its descent into Hobart when the blaze broke out in an overhead locker. After smoke began entering the cabin, the fire was extinguished by crew while the aircraft was still in the air. Virgin Australia said the plane landed safely at Hobart Airport and was then boarded by firefighters from Airservices Australia, who "removed a bag from the overhead locker".
Hobart Airport chief operating officer Matt Cocker said all passengers disembarked safely — but paramedics treated one person for "suspected smoke inhalation". A man who was not on the flight but works for a rental car company at Hobart Airport said two separate groups of passengers told him flight attendants extinguished the fire with water after realising "a lithium battery or some sort of charging device had caught fire in someone's bag".
"First customer I had this morning let me know that he was on a bit of a hairy flight coming into Hobart. He said they were about 10 minutes out from landing when … they were made aware of some smoke and a bit of a funny smell coming from one of the overhead lockers."
They described seeing a "small ball of fire" burst out of the smoking overhead compartment when it was opened, he said. "They did say there was a lot of hysterical people when the incident was happening and especially when that fire ball came out," he said.
The man said he was told the "flight crew were very calm and very good at handling the situation".
The aircraft was assessed for damage and a replacement aircraft was sourced for the return flight, which was delayed by about five hours.
Aircraft Information:
Airline: Virgin Australia
Code: VA/VOZ
Aircraft: Boeing 737-8FE
Registration: VH-YFY
Serial Number: 41016
Engines: 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B26
First Flew: July 2017
Age: 8 Years
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