EasyJet Flight Diverts Over Passenger's Charger

An EasyJet flight en route to London made an unscheduled stop in Rome instead, all because of a passenger's portable charger. The BBC reports that a passenger aboard the flight from Egypt alerted the crew that their power bank was in checked luggage—and charging another device. The captain rerouted the plane as a precaution in line with new safety rules, the airline said. The aircraft landed safely at Rome Fiumicino, where passengers disembarked and were put up in hotels before the flight was rescheduled for the next day.

There was no reported fault with the device itself, but airline and global aviation rules bar power banks from being used or charged in the hold because of the fire risk posed by lithium-ion batteries, reports CNN. EasyJet permits up to two power banks per passenger—in carry-on only—and says they cannot be used during flight. The International Civil Aviation Organization imposed new restrictions on power banks in March following a series of incidents, including a passenger plane fire in South Korea last year that left three people with minor injuries. The fire broke out as the plane was waiting to take off.