A panicked Hong Kong Airlines flight crew raced to extinguish a fire using bottles of water after a blaze reportedly broke out in an overhead bin during a flight.
Video posted on social media on March 20, 2025, showed crew members and passengers scrambling to douse the blaze as the pilot initiated an emergency landing.
Hong Kong Airlines confirmed to local media that the fire aboard an Airbus A320-200 was successfully extinguished and flight HX115 landed safely at Fuzhou Changle International Airport (FOC) in China.
The Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A320, registered B-LPC, took off from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) on March 20, 2025, just before 13:00 local time and was due to land at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) around two hours later.
However, according to flightradar24 data, the aircraft instead landed at FOC at around 14:00 local time.
Photos of the overhead bin following the fire showed belongings inside destroyed and extensive damage to the storage compartment
The incident comes as several airlines, including Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways, have taken steps to ban or limit the use of power banks on flights over concerns about cabin fires
#BREAKING #HongKong Airlines confirmed that flight HX115 was diverted to #Fuzhou due to a fire in the luggage rack in the cabin of the passenger plane during the flight on Mar. 20, and has now landed safely. The fire was also successfully extinguished. #Airbus pic.twitter.com/Jg1Eitolzd
— Ifeng News (@IFENG__official) March 20, 2025
A fire that destroyed an Air Busan Airbus A321 in January 2025 was likely caused by a power bank, according to South Korean investigators.
There is so far no official confirmation about what caused the fire onboard the Hong Kong Airlines flight.
Hong Kong Airlines recently celebrated its 18th anniversary by announcing plans to make a return to the long-haul market in early 2025 as the airline looks to restore its international network.