Air China flight safely diverted to Shanghai after battery fireplace in cabin

A industrial passenger flight operated by Air China was safely diverted to Shanghai on Saturday (October 19, 2025) after a battery stowed in a passenger’s carry-on baggage caught fireplace, the airline mentioned.

The incident occurred aboard the nationwide service’s day by day flight from the japanese Chinese metropolis of Hangzhou to Incheon International Airport, close to Seoul, South Korea.

“A lithium battery spontaneously ignited in a passenger’s carry-on baggage saved within the overhead bin on flight CA139,” the airline mentioned in a press release on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

“The crew instantly dealt with the scenario based on procedures, and nobody was injured,” the assertion mentioned.

The aircraft was diverted for an unscheduled touchdown at Shanghai Pudong International Airport “to make sure flight security”, it added.

Bright flames had been seen coming from an overhead storage compartment in a picture taken by a passenger and revealed by state-affiliated home media outlet Jimu News.

There was black smoke within the cabin, the picture confirmed, as not less than one passenger was seen attempting to extinguish the blaze.

Data from monitoring web site Flightradar24 confirmed that the flight took off from Hangzhou at 9:47 a.m. native time.

It made a whole flip over the ocean roughly equidistant from the japanese Chinese coast and Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, touchdown in Shanghai shortly after 11am native time.