Five years after Samsung had issued a global recall over its exploding smartphones, the company is now once again making headlines after one of its devices caught fire inside an Alaska Airlines flight in Seattle.

Seattle officials said the passengers on the flight had to be evacuated because of the fire hazard. Fortunately, the incident occurred when the Alaska Airlines flight had already landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The flight arrived at the airport from New Orleans.

Port of Seattle representative, Perry Cooper, said the Samsung smartphone was severely burned and was no longer recognizable. Authorities later found that the smartphone in question was a Samsung Galaxy A21 - a new mid-tier model. Cooper said they only learned of the smartphone's model from one of the passengers but they cannot confirm it by looking at the burnt remains of the device.

According to witnesses, Alaska Airlines flight attendants had to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. They then took the burnt device and placed it in a battery containment bag to stop it from belching toxic smoke inside the pressurized cabin.

 

Alaska Airlines said that the damage to the cabin had forced the attendants to use the airplane's evacuation slides to get people out. The airline said two of the passengers had to be taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.

The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said no serious injuries were sustained by any of the passengers or the crew. The flight had a total of 128 passengers and six crew members. All of them were taken to the airport's terminal by bus after they were evacuated from the airplane.

Samsung was the center of a global scandal in 2016 after its flagship Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices were found to be a fire hazard. Due to defects in how they were manufactured and installed, the phone's batteries would sometimes spontaneously combust causing severe burns to consumers. The battery fires and explosions resulted in major lawsuits against the company, which forced it to recall and replace millions of devices.

It is not yet clear if the new model had suffered from similar defects or if it was an isolated incident. Samsung has yet to issue a formal statement addressing the issue.