PASSENGERS on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Ibiza were forced to evacuate their plane via an emergency slide after a mobile phone caught fire just moments before take-off.
The incident occurred at Barcelona–El Prat Airport at around 5.30pm on Tuesday afternoon.
It's understood that flames erupted when a holidaymaker plugged their phone into an external battery pack and placed the device in a carry-on bag in the overhead compartment.
Footage of panicked passengers evacuating the plane has been posted to social media:
@Ryanair Evacuation today at Barcelona airport due to passenger electronic device #lithiumbattery #cabincrew #cabincrewlife #cabincrewtraining #azafata #flightattendant #aeromoza #TCP #safety #evacuation pic.twitter.com/u8fPFuM6KD
— Cabin Crew Club (@club_cabin) July 31, 2018
No one was injured in the drama, and passengers were brought back to the airport's terminal before being placed on another flight that evening.
In a statement, a Ryanair spokesperson told The Irish Post: "Passengers on a Barcelona-Ibiza flight (on the ground in Barcelona) on Tuesday afternoon (31 July) experienced an emergency evacuation caused by a mobile phone catching fire as it was being charged by a battery pack.
"All passengers were safely evacuated back to the terminal and cabin crew dealt with the mobile phone.
"Ryanair worked to arrange a spare aircraft to re-accommodate these passengers with the minimum delay."
