Passenger's phone emits smell on Hawaiian Airlines flight to Tokyo

A Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Tokyo experienced an incident before landing when a passenger's phone became lodged in a seat. The crew quickly contained the situation, ensuring the aircraft landed safely without needing an evacuation. However, the occurrence led to a delay in the return flight by several hours.

The incident took place on Hawaiian flight HA457, an international flight originating at the carrier's main hub, Honolulu International Airport, with its destination being Tokyo Haneda Airport. The flight departs daily, and on April 27th, it took off close to schedule, arriving in Tokyo 43 minutes ahead of time on April 28th. During descent, a phone reportedly caught fire in the cabin. Nonetheless, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson clarified to Simple Flying, "There was no fire," adding, "Prior to HA457 arriving at Haneda Airport [on] April 28th, crew members reported an electrical smell coming from a guest's mobile device that became lodged in a seat. Out of an abundance of caution, our crewmembers declared an emergency to obtain priority handling at the airport."

The aircraft was an Airbus A330-200 with registration N375HA, and it carried 140 passengers. Upon landing, the crew removed the mobile device from the seat. With an emergency declared, the crew received priority handling, simplifying the landing process on runway 34R at Tokyo Haneda Airport.