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Hair iron blamed for Narita airport suitcase fire

31 Comments

A suitcase on a flight arriving from Dallas, Texas, burst into flames during a transfer at Narita airport on Sunday, startling employees and sparking a police and fire department response. The flight was laying over at Narita on its way to Bangkok, said airport officials.

During the transfer, an airport employee noticed smoke emitting from the suitcase at around 2 p.m. and rushed to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher.

Police believe the suitcase, which belonged to a woman on the flight, contained a battery-powered hair iron and that the switch became toggled on as the suitcase was jostled during transfer.

© News reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


31 Comments
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What a dumbass.... Anyone, Japanese, American, British, you name it, that puts a battery powered device that is designed to create heat, without, at the very least, removing the batteries... And if the batteries cannot be removed... Leaving the thing at home...

300 innocent passengers are very lucky that thing didn't decided to get switched on half-way across the pacific, and then we have another value-jet type crash...

They need to make up a checklist for dumbass's, that asks specific questions, "Are you carrying and flame or heat producing devices... Oh, like a charcoal grill battery powered heater...?" A Battery powered Iron...?

It's very rare these days, in which hotel rooms do not have AC outlets, so people do not need to carry battery powered devices designed to generate heat!

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Well, they want to see your body in details in X- rays that very likely you yourself can't see. And they let a battery pass undetected.

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Glad nobody was hurt. Is it illegal to have a battery-powered hair iron a suitcase? I learn something today there should be no battery-powered equipments in your suitcase when flying.

Wonder if the person will get a bill for the incident?

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Flight from Dallas to Bangkok? - possibly a first time overseas vacationer, going to the 'Orient' and worried about big hair.

Saw the same phenomenon when my sister came here on her way to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam; she just would not believe that shampoo and other items were available there, and that they had convenience stores! Carried 3 months worth of toiletries in her luggage!

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I often travel with a battery powered device in my luggage.

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I often travel with a battery powered device in my luggage.

So do I, but nothing that produces intense heat.

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Yeah, bring the portable stove too and water pot and what not. vacation means leave everything home and do away with a lot of things.

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What color was her hair?

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I often travel with a battery powered device in my luggage.

I do too, but I always take out the batteries.

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Hair irons, another item to be added to the dangerous goods list.

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This could have really been ugly had this happened while in air.

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@wanderlust, LOL! I was thinking the same thing with those Texas women and their big hair. Haha

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What idiot puts that sort of gadget with batteries together with flammable material?? Incredible.

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maybe the owner of the hair iron would use this as an alibi:

Damn manufacturer didn't put warning not to remove batteries when boarding planes. LOlz

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nandakandamand: NOT blond, i hope:)

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nandakandamand: NOT blond, i hope:)

No, just fake blond. You know, the type that would need to use one of these hair irons on the train - thus, the need for battery-operated ones.

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What color was her hair?

Yeh, I hate it when they leave out important details like this too! Anyhow, another thing on the list of what NOT to bring.

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Now if they only stop throwing everybody's luggage around back there......

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lucky it happened during transfer..

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XXXXX said: lucky it happened during transfer..

Luck? No. Now we know why they toss your luggage around like its part of a salad. Its to detect potential problems while on the ground! Good work boyz! Glad it wasn't a bomb!

So do I, but nothing that produces intense heat.

They all produce some heat though. Left on long enough in cramped space, things melt and then you get shorts and then it really gets hot. This is learned by people who put their keys and a battery in the same pocket and "get lucky" enough to have the keys make a circuit for a few minutes. Batteries should be stowed carefully in any case.

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The thought that we have to share an aircraft with people as stupid as this makes me shudder.

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Lucky it happened while they were playing kick the soft suitcase around the break room.

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all the same, it could have happened during the flight. that was luck. dumb luck.

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Very scary. Sadly I predict this will get added to the list of printed warnings as you approach baggage check-in.

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Even if a device was not made to create heat, many battery operated machines can create a fire in a contained space. Better to just put the batteries in another container.

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what kind of fool would travel with the battery IN the device of such an item? geez!!! think while you pack. can you imagine the headlines of a 747 (i am assuming) brought down by a curling iron with all those lives lost. if the battery comes out ... and you are packing it in checked luggage ... REMOVE THE BATTERY!!!!!!

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In defense of women who need their hair straighteners!!:

Yes, she should have taken the batteries out before she packed the item. But bringing the item itself is not a crime, and she probably thought she was being a smart traveler by not having to worry about converters. First time I went to Europe I brought my straightener and all the necessary converters and plugs and still burned my hair beyond repair! Burnt hair smells, people!

And yeah, girls go to extreme lengths to look good. When you start becoming dependent on some product for your everyday look, it's really hard to imagine living without it.

So bash her for forgetting to remove the batteries, not for wanting to control the frizz the humidity in Thailand causes!

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pandaclair - I`m right with ya babe!

Sorry guys - Im by no means stupid, but it just wouldnt have occured to me to take the batteries out. It`s not on any banned or warning list. I would have wrapped it up well and not thought anything of it. Millions of hair appliances fly every day with no problem - this was just a one-off case. Now we KNOW about it - yes, by all means, lets take the batteries out in the future. But I think calling this poor woman stupid is a bit of a stretch.

And yes, I am a blonde - but not a real one!

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Doesn't seem possible that regular batteries would cause a fire. Bags are jammed so tight together and in closed containers, so probably not a dnger actually even if it happened during the flight.

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goddog, the problem wasn't the batteries. The dang thing was a hair iron, designed to get hot. Are you suggesting that lack of air in a container would have prevented the same fire that actually subsequently broke out?

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strike anywhere matches are dangerous goods. batteries are dangerous goods. someone did not do their job.

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