Delta Flight Diverted After Fire Ignites Mid-Air

A Delta flight en route from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale on Monday had to make a surprise landing in Fort Myers after a passenger’s electronic device started smoking — apparently due to a battery catching fire.

Cabin crew moved quickly to handle the situation, dousing the device before it escalated further. Still, lingering smoke in the cabin prompted the pilots to divert to Southwest Florida International Airport, where emergency teams met the aircraft out of an abundance of caution.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. All 185 passengers and six crew members made it off the plane safely. The aircraft — a Boeing 757-200 — was taken out of service for inspection, and Delta has been working to rebook affected travelers.

In a statement, Delta praised its team for following protocol and apologized to passengers for the unexpected detour.

“Crew members acted fast to put out what appeared to be a passenger’s overheated battery, while the pilots made the call to reroute the flight as a safety precaution,” Delta told reporters.

It’s a good time to brush up on battery regulations when flying: the TSA doesn’t allow spare lithium batteries in checked luggage. The keyword being “spare” as you can have electronics with lithium batteries in checked luggage as long as the batteries are contained within the electronic device. It’s still not recommended.

When you bring batteries in your carry-on, you should have have protections in place to prevent short-circuiting. And you want to be mindful about the heat they are exposed to. It will be interesting to see what kind of battery was at issue here if they reveal any details. All we know now is that it was a “battery from a passenger’s personal electronic device.”

Original reporting by USA TODAY.