Alerts Sign-up
Earlier today, a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Hobart faced an unexpected situation when a fire broke out inside the cabin. The incident was reportedly caused by a lithium battery in a passenger's bag. Despite the fire, the cabin crew managed to contain it, allowing the flight to continue safely to its destination in Tasmania.
Reports indicate that the fire started as the aircraft began its descent. Sam McCambridge, a rental car worker at Hobart Airport, recounted: "The first customer I had this morning let me know that he was on a bit of a hairy flight coming into Hobart. He said they were about 10 minutes out from landing when (...) they were made aware of some smoke and a bit of a funny smell coming from one of the overhead lockers."
Upon landing, firefighters removed the bag containing the overheating battery from the Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The plane was taken out of service for inspection and remains grounded more than 10 hours later. This resulted in significant delays for subsequent flights, including VA1531 from Hobart to Sydney and VA866 from Sydney to Melbourne.
