Southwest's new portable charger policy was vindicated after just 24 hours when a flight diverted due to a smoking battery pack

Southwest's new portable charger policy was vindicated after just 24 hours when a flight diverted due to a smoking battery pack

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737.AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesA Southwest Airlines flight diverted to South Carolina an hour into its journey."A customer's battery charger apparently overheated and began to smoke," the airline told BI.The incident came the day after Southwest introduced new rules for portable charging devices.A Southwest Airlines flight had to divert after a passenger's battery charger started to smoke, the day after the airline…

A Smoking Power Bank Put Southwest’s Brand-New Safety Rule to the Test Just One Day After it Was Introduced

The strict new rules that Southwest Airlines introduced last week to guard against safety concerns from overheating portable power banks was put to the ultimate test just one day into the regulations taking effect. As Southwest Flight WN-1844 was flying at 40,000 feet off the coast of South Carolina on Thursday, the pilots of the Boeing 737 were forced to make an emergency diversion when a power bank overheated and started to spew smoke into the…