Batik Air flight cabin filled with smoke after power bank catches fire 30 minutes before landing

A fire broke out aboard a Batik Air flight from Johor Bahru, Malaysia to Bangkok, Thailand on Feb. 24.

The flight was just 30 minutes away from landing in Bangkok when TikTok user kentmaherr noticed something akin to "steam" coming out of a luggage compartment.

The "steam" soon thickened into smoke, and had a strong "chemical-like smell", he added.

He then realised it was a fire.

In a caption to a video he uploaded of the incident itself, the user wrote that passengers were "shocked by the thick smoke" and the smell of fire was "stinging in [the passengers'] noses":

@kentmaherr 30 minit sebelum landing, berlaku detik mencemaskan sbb berlakunya kebakaran dalam luggage compartment dalam flight BOEING 737 Batik Air Perjalanan JHB ( JOHOR BHARU) to DMK (DON MEUNG BANGKOK) 11.20am waktu Malaysia, semua penumpang di kejutkan dengan kepulan asap pekat keluar dari luggage compartment dengan bau kebakaran yg menyengat hidung. Alhamdulillah penumpang dan flight attendant bekerjsama memadamkan kebakaran dan keadaan kembali terkawal dan aman. Setibanya di lapangan terbang Don Meung, pasukan bomba dan ambulance siap sedia menanti untuk memastikan keselamatan kesemua penumpang, kru kapal dan captain. Terima kasih atas tindakan pantas dan kerjasama yg di berikan. Sepanjang hidup saya pernah travel, ini lah kali pertama mengalami kejadian seumpama ini, hanya mampu mengucap dan mengenang anak dan keluarga serta sahabat2 tersayang yg di tinggalkan di Malaysia. Terima kasih Allah SWT atas peluang masih bernyawa! #batikair #BOEING737 #KEBAKARANPESAWAT #JHB #DMK #FYP #powerbankterbakar ##FYPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP #FORYOUPAGE #plane #firefighter ♬ original sound - KENT

A passenger then alerted one of the flight attendants, many of whom were already buckled in for the landing.

In the video, the flight attendants appear to be touching the luggage compartments to find the source of heat.

Meanwhile, the cabin was filled with smoke.

Power bank likely to blame

The flight attendants swiftly put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.

"Thankfully, no one on the flight panicked, everyone was calm,” he added.

The user and some other passengers later followed a man who was escorted to the rear of the plane.

The man then reportedly took a power bank out of the bag that had been in the luggage compartment where the smoke had come from. It was then placed into a container.

Apparently, a flight attendant used a few mineral water bottles to put out the fire.

Situation quickly brought under control

The user added thanked the flight crew for swiftly acting and bringing the fire under control "within minutes".

The fire brigade and ambulances were on standby at the airport when the flight landed.

No one on the flight panicked, and everyone was calm, kentmaherr said in a follow-up video on the matter.

Power bank incidents

This is not the first time a power bank has caught fire aboard a commercial flight.

Air Busan is banning passengers from keeping their power banks in the overhead compartments as a preemptive measure after one of its planes caught fire on Jan. 28.

Top photo from kentmaherr/TikTok