Yesterday, a British Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flying from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the UK to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada, had to alert air traffic control after a fire broke out on board that was caused by a cellphone. While the incident did not impact the flight operationally, it is said to have ‘scorched’ some of the inside of the cabin of the widebody twinjet.

For the most part, transporting mobile phones on aircraft is something that is safe to do, with countless passengers and members of crew bringing their devices on board with them every day. Indeed, in the modern era, you might be hard-pushed to find a passenger who is not flying with a mobile phone. However, their batteries can experience thermal runaway in certain conditions, resulting in fires.

A Cellphone Caught Fire On BA271

Credit: Shutterstock

According to reporting on the matter by CBS News, the British Airways flight in question was numbered as BA271 and left London Heathrow Airport for Las Vegas yesterday lunchtime. While en route to Sin City, the flight’s pilots are said to have reported to air traffic control staff that a fire had broken out on board, having been caused by a cellphone. The FAA has said it will investigate the incident.

“The safety of our customers and crew is the highest priority. The flight landed safely, and customers disembarked normally.”

A Safe & Punctual Arrival Despite The Fire

Credit: Flightradar24

Although the fire was able to be contained, and the crew did not have to divert to a different airport, KTNV notes that members of the Clark County Fire Department did attend Harry Reid International Airport yesterday afternoon, likely as a precautionary measure. In any case, a spokesperson for the airport confirmed that “the fire was extinguished and the aircraft landed safely and taxied to the gate.”

According to tracking data made available by Flightradar24, BA271 was scheduled to depart from London Heathrow Airport at 12:15 PM local time yesterday. While it ultimately took off a little late, at 12:57 PM, the service made good time on its westbound journey across the North Atlantic Ocean, Canada, and the US, and landed at 2:26 PM (vs a scheduled arrival time of 2:55 PM) despite the on-board fire.

BA generally operates two flights a day from London Heathrow to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, with BA271 joined on most days by a later departure that bears the number BA275. Across June as a whole, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that the airline has penciled in 55 flights from Heathrow to Las Vegas: 30 with the Airbus A350-1000 and 25 with the Boeing 787-9.

The Aircraft Involved

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As previously noted, yesterday’s iteration of British Airways flight BA271 from London Heathrow Airport to Harry Reid International in Las Vegas was operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Tracking data made available by Flightradar24 shows that the specific example rostered to this rotation on Monday, June 15, bore the registration G-ZBKH, with ch-aviation listing it as one of 18 787-9s in BA’s fleet.

These aircraft are 10 years old on average, with G-ZBKH being slightly more senior. Indeed, having first flown in February of 2016, this aircraft, which has served the UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member for the entirety of its career since its initial delivery back in June of 2016, is now 10.32 years old. It has a grand total of 216 seats on board, with these spread across four classes of travel.