A Lufthansa Airbus A380 flying from Los Angeles to Munich had to divert to Boston this week after a passenger lost their tablet in the structure of their business class seat.

Given the safety concerns surrounding this incident, particularly regarding the potential for the device to overheat, the decision was taken to get the plane on the ground earlier than planned in order for technicians to address the issue.

The diversion to Boston, and the time that the aircraft and its passengers had to spend on the ground there while the issue was resolved, resulted in the flight arriving into Munich several hours behind schedule.

However, with aviation being a safety-first business, the redirection was a necessary precaution, particularly in light of several recent high-profile incidents where lithium-ion batteries have caught fire.

The Flight Diverted While Cruising Over Canada

Image: Flightradar24

Lufthansa flight LH453 is a regularly scheduled flight that originates at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in southern California.

Its destination is Munich Airport (MUC) in the southeast German state of Bavaria, which serves as a key base for the carrier’s long-haul operations.

According to Flightradar24, the flight operates on a daily basis using the A380, with Lufthansa’s examples having 509 seats.

On April 23rd, the flight was operated by D-AIMC, which departed LAX slightly behind schedule at 17:47 local (vs a scheduled time of 17:30).

However, its arrival into Munich was delayed by several hours after, as seen above, the aircraft turned to the southeast while over Canada in order to divert to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The reason for this was a business class passenger’s tablet getting stuck in their seat, with a Lufthansa spokesperson telling Simple Flying that:

“To eliminate any potential risk, particularly with regard to possible overheating, the cockpit crew and air traffic control jointly decided – as a precaution – to divert the flight to Boston. There, a Lufthansa Technik team safely removed and inspected the damaged tablet. (…) At Lufthansa, the safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority. The diversion was a purely precautionary measure.”

LH453 Reached Munich Three Hours Behind Schedule

Image: Flightradar24

The Aviation Herald notes that the aircraft, which had 461 passengers onboard according to Lufthansa (a load factor of 91%), was cruising at an altitude of around 35,000 feet, 300 nautical miles to the northwest of the Canadian city of Winnipeg at the time of the diversion.

Despite Boston being some three hours away, the plane was still overweight when it touched down on runway 33L at Logan Airport.

Data from Flightradar24 shows that the A380 landed in Boston at 02:41 local time, by which time, as Lufthansa’s spokesperson informed Simple Flying, “the device had already shown visible signs of deformation due to the seat’s movements.” After the aforementioned work by Lufthansa Technik staff in Boston, the aircraft took off again just over 90 minutes later, reaching Munich three hours late.

Related

Airlines Are Taking Extra Precautions After Recent Battery Fires

Photo: Jake Hardiman | Simple Flying

As annoying as it is to lose your phone or tablet, particularly on a long flight where you might be relying on it for entertainment, some readers might be unsure as to why such an incident warrants a diversion.

However, there is a good reason for this, as, with Lufthansa having confirmed that the device in question was damaged as a result, this could have led to a potential fire risk onboard the jet.

With lithium-ion batteries found in phones and tablets being particularly sensitive to temperature changes, such as when it rises due to the friction that occurs from being jammed in a movable business class seat, blazes can quickly break out onboard.

Several have already occurred this year, including on Southwest Airlines and Air Busan. With the latter of these destroying a parked Airbus A321, the risks have become very clear, prompting airlines to update their battery policies.