American Airlines flight diverts after passenger device causes fire onboard

Passengers described tense moments during the event. Adriana Novello told ABC News that she woke up when a flight attendant jumped onto her seat for a fire extinguisher. "I started smelling smoke, and a lot of people on the plane were coughing. I looked behind me, and what we could tell was that there was something on fire in the aisle," Novello said.

After landing at Dulles just before midday, emergency services met the aircraft and assisted with disembarkation and inspection of the affected device.

The Airbus A321-200 involved (registration N558UW) is about 13 years old and previously flew for US Airways before joining American Airlines’ fleet in 2015. According to industry data sources such as ch-aviation and aeroLOPA, this model typically seats 170 economy class passengers—with some extra legroom seats—and 20 first class passengers.

To accommodate disrupted travelers, American Airlines rebooked them onto other flights from Washington DC to Phoenix. The aircraft remained grounded at Dulles for nearly one day before repositioning to Phoenix on August 24.

American Airlines operates one of the largest fleets of A321-200s globally and maintains major hubs including Philadelphia International Airport—where AA357 originated—and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport—its intended destination.