Baggage explosion causes scare at O’Hare
Authorities are continuing to investigate what caused a battery in a specialized packing case to explode shortly after arriving at O’Hare International Airport Tuesday morning.
A United Airlines baggage handler suffered minor burns to his arms in the incident, which brought out the FBI, Chicago fire and police along with the bomb and arson unit.
As a result, some flights were delayed although air traffic was not affected, officials said.
The lead battery was part of equipment brought along by employees of an engineering company en route to an assignment.
As the baggage handler was moving the case around 10:45 a.m., the battery somehow short-circuited, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. “It heated up and rapidly disintegrated.”
It’s not clear if the movement or the case getting caught in baggage-handling equipment caused the reaction.
The United Airlines worker was taken to Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago. The employee left the hospital around noon with his right arm in a sling without making any comment.
The incident occurred in a ramp area, which is not open to the public, of the C concourse at O’Hare. “The public is not in any harm’s way,” Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino said.
The engineers brought other batteries in specially designed packing cases, which were checked and found to be in safe condition, Langford said.
“It’s being classified as an accident,” a police spokesman said.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration and bomb and arson squad are still reviewing what went wrong with the packaging or handling of the case.
Batteries are allowed on airplanes but different rules apply for various types. Passengers can bring most consumer batteries and battery-powered electronics onto the plane or in checked luggage, the FAA says. But certain regulations apply, such as spare batteries must be properly stored to prevent damage or short-circuits, which can occur if a battery’s terminals touch metal. When that happens, the device will heat up and sparks or fire can result.
The battery involved in the incident was sealed and screened upon departure from Lafayette Regional Airport in Louisiana, Transportation Security Administration officials said. The flight continued through Houston and O’Hare but its final destination was Bismarck Municipal Airport in North Dakota.
During the investigation, police set up a perimeter around the area where the explosion occurred. Some United Airlines departing flights were delayed and some passengers had to wait for their baggage as a result.
Arriving planes were held on the tarmac for 15 to 20 minutes immediately after the incident, passengers said.
“They said there was some type of spill, so we just waited,” said Shannon Benson of Denver.
“The pilot said something about a baggage fire,” another passenger, Jason Blain of San Diego, said.
Ÿ Daily Herald staff writers Jake Griffin and Kerry Lester contributed to this report.