Air carrier flight crew was informed during descent that a cell phone had caught fire and was droppe...

Attributes
ACN	1370875
Time
Date	201607
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR ZZZZZ
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 14340 Flight Crew Type 11836
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 8581 Flight Crew Type 8095
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

Over the arrival fix; flight attendants and passengers seated for turbulence. Flight attendant called to report a fire in the cabin. A cell phone had caught fire while charging. Passenger dropped the phone on the floor in the aisle. Flames 8-12 inches high. Nearby passengers poured water on the fire and had it extinguished before flight attendants could respond. In the cockpit we selected packs to high flow to clear smoke. Smoke cleared immediately. We continued the visual approach and did not declare an emergency. Requested fire truck and paramedics to meet the plane. Cell phone was a galaxy model. I am glad it was only a cell phone. A laptop battery is much larger and would have created a bigger fire; which could have caused secondary fires.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew was informed during descent that a cell phone had caught fire and was dropped in the aisle. Nearby passengers had poured drinks on the fire to extinguish it and the flight continued to destination.

Narrative: Over the arrival fix; Flight Attendants and passengers seated for turbulence. Flight Attendant called to report a fire in the cabin. A cell phone had caught fire while charging. Passenger dropped the phone on the floor in the aisle. Flames 8-12 inches high. Nearby passengers poured water on the fire and had it extinguished before flight attendants could respond. In the cockpit we selected packs to high flow to clear smoke. Smoke cleared immediately. We continued the visual approach and did not declare an emergency. Requested fire truck and paramedics to meet the plane. Cell phone was a galaxy model. I am glad it was only a cell phone. A laptop battery is much larger and would have created a bigger fire; which could have caused secondary fires.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.