U.S. aviation safety officials took the extraordinary step late
Thursday of warning airline passengers not to turn on or charge a
new-model Samsung smartphone during flights following numerous reports
of the devices catching fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration also warned passengers not to put
the Galaxy Note 7 phones in their checked bags, citing "recent
incidents and concerns raised by Samsung" about the devices. It is
extremely unusual for the FAA to warn passengers about a specific
product.
Last week, Samsung ordered a global recall of the jumbo phones after
its investigation of explosion reports found the rechargeable lithium
batteries were at fault. In one case, a family in St. Petersburg,
Florida, reported a Galaxy Note 7 phone left charging in their Jeep
caught fire, destroying the vehicle.
Australian airline companies were among the first to take measures.
Qantas has asked passengers not to switch the Note 7 devices on and not
to charge them during flights, its spokeswoman Sharna Rhys-Jones said.
Media reports said other Australian airlines took a similar step,
including Jetstar Airways and Virgin Australia.
Shares of Samsung suffered their second worst day of the year, tumbling 4 percent Friday on the Korea Exchange.
Samsung launched the latest version of the Note series in August. The
Note series is one of the most expensive lineups released by Samsung,
and the devices usually inherit designs and features of the Galaxy S
phones that debut in the spring. Samsung also added an iris scanner to
the Note 7, which detects patterns in users' eyes to unlock the phone.
Before the issue of battery explosions emerged, supplies were not
keeping up with higher-than-expected demand for the smartphone.
0 comments:
Post a Comment