Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Equipment / Tooling
A customer had a medium size aux battery plugged into a power port at their seat and from the battery to a phone that was being charged/powered; when the battery suddenly got very hot and started to smoke. It was unplugged from the power port and disconnected from the phone and a Flight Attendant transferred the battery to a steel coffee carafe per the inflight procedure. According to the Purser; it was initially too hot to handle and smelled strongly of being burnt. Customer said she bought the battery in China because it was such a cheap price. I inspected the device after it was cooled down and did not see any external damage to it; although there was still; after a couple of hours; an odor to it and it was slightly warm to the touch. Battery says Smart AC 120; and 'WABAN' on the face of it.Ban customers from having any LIPO batteries that are not installed in a device. Ban them entirely from checked baggage (Good luck with that).
B777 First Officer reported a passenger's auxiliary lithium polymer battery began smoking in flight and was hot to the touch.