Passengers seated toward the front of a China Eastern Airlines cabin scrambled backward when flames erupted from a luggage bin overhead, moments after their aircraft touched down in southwestern China.
The fire started on July 24, 2026, aboard Flight MU2421, an Airbus A320 that had just completed a domestic hop from Lanzhou to Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, according to the South China Morning Post. Investigators traced the source to a power bank tucked inside a passenger’s carry-on bag, which ignited while the plane rolled toward its parking position.
Flight attendants brought the blaze under control before anyone stepped off the aircraft, and firefighters stationed at the airport were dispatched to the plane as a backup measure. Nobody was hurt. The Aviation Safety Network logged only light smoke damage to the cabin.
Clips circulating online captured the moment: smoke pouring from an open overhead locker as one attendant plunged a hand into the bin while colleagues moved in to help. A traveler recounting the scene to Chinese outlets described a wave of alarm sweeping through the forward rows.
“I thought the outside of the plane was on fire, but when I looked up, I saw flames coming out of the overhead luggage rack,” the passenger said, in an account carried by The Sun.
The crew’s composure drew praise from another person on board, who said staff directed everyone to stay calm as they dealt with the flames.
China Eastern’s own policy speaks directly to the hazard. The airline permits power banks in the cabin but forbids passengers from stashing them in overhead lockers, and it bars their use for charging phones or other gadgets in flight. Regulators have leaned into the same worry, since a lithium battery failure can escalate within seconds in the confined space of a passenger cabin.
That concern reshaped Chinese aviation rules the previous summer. Following a run of battery-linked fires, the Civil Aviation Administration of China tightened its standards in June 2025, barring power banks that lack China Compulsory Certification (3C) markings, carry unclear labeling, or belong to recalled batches.
The Guiyang scare was not the first of its kind. A Hong Kong Airlines A320 running between Hangzhou and Hong Kong was forced to reroute to Fuzhou in March 2025 after a power bank ignited in an overhead compartment, though all 168 people aboard walked away unharmed.
