Shock footage shows dangers of packing vapes, mobile phones and power banks into checked luggage when flying

As the holiday season gets underway, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released the video to demonstrate the terrifying consequences of a fire breaking out in an aircraft's hold.

It comes as a staggering 675K passengers are set to pass through Newcastle and Teesside Airports this July and August alone.

Lithium batteries pose a threat because if they are damaged or faulty they can explode or catch fire.

When this happens in the hold while the plane is in the air, the blaze is more likely to go undetected for longer - with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Despite this, the regulator says a concerning 36 per cent of travellers are unaware of the dangers of packing batteries into checked luggage, which suggests 100s incorrectly enter the cargo bay on a typical flight.

Figures from the authority reveal that around two lithium battery incidents happen a week while cases of devices being incorrectly packed rose by 91 per cent last year.

This means that the issue currently poses the greatest singular threat to aircraft safety.

But passengers do not just risk sparking a fire when packing batteries into checked bags - their actions can also delay the flight, inconveniencing hundreds of travellers.

Jonathan Nicholson, spokesperson for regulator, said: “If a blaze breaks out in the hold it's much harder to deal with than in the cabin.

“Cabin crew are trained to deal with fires, they have buckets of water, and they know what to do to extinguish them.

“Lithium batteries can catch fire anywhere, but if you're in the cabin of an aircraft at 30,000 feet, you can't dial 999 and get the fire brigade out to extinguish it.

“It's an intense heat, and it's difficult to put out, so it really is a significant danger.

“This is why people need to take power banks, vapes, mobile phones - any devices containing a lithium battery - into the cabin with them.”

The video was taken in a controlled environment after a nail was driven into a lithium battery to inflict the damage which can lead to a fierce fire.

Jonathan added: “The safety aspect is real, but there's also a risk of the plane being diverted or delayed or the passenger having their device or bag confiscated and never getting it back.

“Recently, a family on an Easyjet flight left a power bank connected to a phone in a buggy, which was put into the hold.

“They only realised after the flight had taken off and when the pilot was told he diverted the plane to a different airport.

“You really don't want to be that one person who is responsible for sending hundreds of people to the wrong city and costing the airline hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“That said, it's vital that if you do remember you have left a lithium battery in the hold, you alert cabin crew immediately.

“It's definitely something we need to know about.”

The buggy incident happened in May when a UK-bound Easyjet flight was diverted to Rome after a power bank was left charging a phone.

The plane had left Hurghada in Egypt destined for London Luton before landing in the Italian capital after the traveller informed cabin crew of the error.

In November 2025, a man caught fire at Melbourne international airport after a lithium power bank in his pocket ignited, leaving him with burns to his leg and fingers.

And in January of last year a portable power bank was the likely cause of a fire that destroyed a passenger plane in South Korea just before take-off, leaving three people with minor injuries.