Lufthansa makes unscheduled landing after laptop fire; 2nd incident in 4 days

The airline said, Monday night’s landing at O’Hare was a precautionary step after an overheated laptop caused a small fire in the passenger cabin.

It further added, none of the passengers were injured, but two flight attendants were treated for smoke inhalation following the “unscheduled landing,”

The airline said its ground staff was helping passengers get rebooked for flights to their final destinations and said it “regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers.”

A similar incident occurred on Saturday when emergency responders evacuated a JetBlue flight at JFK International Airport in New York City as a result of a small fire in a passenger’s laptop. The fire was quickly extinguished by the crew of JetBlue Flight 662 from Bridgetown, Barbados.

Officials from the FAA, JetBlue and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the aircraft was taxiing to a gate at Terminal 5 when a lithium battery in a passenger’s laptop caught fire, the New York Daily News reported.

First responders and the crew evacuated 67 people from the Airbus A320 jet using an emergency slide system. Another 60 passengers exited the plane normally, the Port Authority said.

Seven passengers suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and bruised elbows, the Port Authority said.

“Safety is always our number one priority, and we are investigating this incident in coordination with the FAA and NTSB,” JetBlue said in a statement to the Daily News.

(With inputs from agencies)