Fire panic on Air India flight as cigarette stub in washroom bin flares up

Officials later learnt that one of the passengers had lit a cigarette in the washroom and dropped the burning stub into the dustbin, igniting its contents.

Passengers aboard the Air India aircraft AI 984, arriving from Dubai, experienced a moment of panic, 15 minutes before the flight was scheduled to land in Mumbai, after smoke was detected in one of the washrooms.

A cigarette stub left by a passenger on an Air India flight caught fire causing 15 minutes of panic before it was doused. (HT File (Representational Image))

Passengers were asked to fasten their seat belts and were given emergency safety instructions. However, the flight managed to land at the scheduled time at 4.15am. Officials later learnt that one of the passengers had lit a cigarette in the washroom and dropped the burning stub into the dustbin, igniting its contents.

Commenting on the incident Air India spokesperson said, “It is the ground security that gives clearance. Air India has raised the matter with the concerned authorities to investigate the incident and are looking into the matter.”

“Crew members rushed to the washroom as soon as smoke was detected from it. When they opened the washroom door, it was learnt that the dustbin in the washroom had caught fire,” said a passenger.

Another passenger, who was flying from Canada and had switched flights in Dubai, said, “Though the crew members had doused the fire, we were all tensed after learning about the fire. The authorities need to investigate how the passenger managed to get a lighter on to the flight.”

All the passengers were made to wait for an hour, following which the passenger responsible for the chaos was handed over to Sahar police.