F.A.A. ‘Strongly Advises’ Against Using Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Aboard Planes

The Federal Aviation Administration is “strongly” advising passengers onboard planes not to use Galaxy Note 7 cellphones by Samsung, which is recalling 2.5 million of the models after discovering a flaw in the battery cell that could result in fires.

In a statement on its website on Thursday night, the F.A.A. said its advice came “in light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung” about the phones. It also recommended against charging the devices onboard or stowing them in any checked baggage.

A company representative could not immediately be reached on Thursday night to comment about the agency’s statement, which was an advisory.

The advisory was in keeping with the F.A.A.’s past statements. It has documented hundreds of cases involving batteries from e-cigarettes, laptops, digital cameras, cellphones, electric bicycles, flashlights, GPS trackers, drones and even a cordless drill catching fire or overheating on passenger planes.

In March, the agency issued a warning that lithium-ion batteries in a cargo hold carried the “risk of a catastrophic hull loss” on an airplane.

Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of smartphones, announced that it would recall the Galaxy Note 7 and replace 2.5 million of the phones sent to stores and consumers. In a statement on Sept. 2, the company said at that point there had been 35 episodes involving the model’s batteries.

Reports of the problem first emerged online, as consumers posted photographs and videos of the charred remains of phones they said had burst into flames, usually while being recharged.

Samsung said it thought the problem came from a “minute flaw” in the production of the batteries.

KACHARAGADLA