South Korea’s Transport Ministry on Friday said that a spare power bank was a possible cause of a fire that engulfed an Air Busan 298690 KS plane in January.
While citing interim investigation results in a statement, the transport ministry said that scorch marks on the debris of a power bank found where the fire was first detected indicated that the blaze may have started because insulation inside the battery had broken down.
According to the statement, investigators cannot yet state what may have caused the breakdown.
Newspot reports that lithium batteries in devices such as laptops, mobile phones, electronic cigarettes and power banks can produce smoke, fire or extreme heat when manufacturing faults or damage cause them to short circuit.
The ministry’s statement further said that no abnormalities in the plane’s own electrical systems have been identified.
Investigators said that the fire on January 28 was first detected in a luggage bin above row 30 on the left side of the plane about 20 minutes after the delayed flight to Hong Kong from Busan, in South Korea, had been scheduled to depart.
All 170 passengers and six crew were, however, evacuated from the Airbus A321ceo plane, which the fire destroyed.
South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board is said to be leading the investigation.
Friday’s investigation update is not a final accident report, which states are obliged to produce within a year of an incident, according to global aviation standards.
