Hong Kong Airlines plane diverted due to possible power bank fire

On Thursday, 20 March 2025, a plane flying from the Chinese city of Hangzhou to Hong Kong was forced to divert to Fuzhou due to a fire on board. The incident was most likely caused by a power bank.

The Hong Kong Airlines plane had 160 passengers and eight crew members on board when a fire broke out in one of the overhead compartments. When the smoke was detected, the flight was immediately diverted to Fuzhou Changle International Airport. However, flight personnel were able to extinguish the fire immediately using an extinguisher, according to the airline. Videos circulating on social media show cabin crew using water bottles on the source of the fire.

“Hong Kong Airlines flight HX115, departing from Hangzhou to Hong Kong today, diverted and landed safely in Fuzhou Changle International Airport due to a fire in the overhead compartment, which was successfully extinguished,” the airline said in a statement.

The Airbus A320 aircraft took off from Hangzhou at 12:20 pm and arrived in Fuzhou at 2:01 pm, according to data from flight tracking website Flightradar24. A replacement aircraft bringing the stranded passengers to Hong Kong was scheduled to arrive at 8:55 pm. None of the passengers or crew members were injured in the incident.

Although Hong Kong Airlines did not specify the possible cause of the fire, the South China Morning Post reported that it might have been caused by a faulty power bank, based on comments from some of the passengers who were on board during the incident. Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department will follow up on the matter with the airline once an investigation report has been submitted to the authorities.

Power banks cause new set of rules

Recently, power banks have been causing quite the uproar in the aviation industry. As of 1 March 2025, South Korea has introduced new rules regarding the use of lithium batteries on passenger planes following an incident on an Air Busan aircraft.

The new regulations require passengers to keep lithium-battery-powered devices in transparent bags and on their person, rather than in the overhead compartments. Moreover, charging is not permitted on board, and passengers are limited to five small power banks or e-cigarettes with a capacity of 100 watt-hours (Wh) or less.