Here’s an in-flight safety message you might want to listen to you before you pop an Ambien and dial up that rom-com. The FAA, on Thursday, politely, in a not-at-all-freaked-out way, asked passengers toting the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 around to keep them switched off on airplanes. Oh, and don’t charge them either. Or store them in your checked baggage. But what kind of misanthrope would do that anyway. The FAA appears to be serious this time.
In light of what recent events, you ask? The new Samsung smartphone seems to have a slight technical problem where it literally explodes. The problem appears to be linked to charging the phone. It’s unclear why an exploding cellphone would be a problem in the cargo hold but not in the overhead compartment, but we can’t expect airplane mode to bail us out of everything. Three Australian airlines have already banned passengers from using or charging the latest Samsung model because of the exploding problem. Passengers are still able to carry the phone on those flights. Samsung has issued a recall of 2.5 million of the phones.
This is not a drill.
