Chaos on Qantas flight QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne after phone starts smouldering in business class

A MELBOURNE-bound Qantas flight erupted into chaos this morning when smoke began to fill the business class cabin after an incident with a passenger’s mobile phone.

DRAMA unfolded on a Melbourne-bound Qantas flight from Los Angeles when a mobile phone reportedly caught alight this morning.

The QF94 flight, which almost diverted to Sydney amid the crisis, was two hours from landing at Tullamarine when a ‘burnt rubber’ smell started to waft through the cabin about 6am.

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Passengers reported a ‘burnt rubber’ smell on the QF94 flight this morning.

A passenger on board told the Herald Sun cabin crew ran through the plane with fire extinguishers after reporting the smell.

“Nobody knew what was going on,” she said.

“The (air hostess) was on the internal phone when two male hostesses grabbed fire extinguishers and ran up the stairs to business.”

What happens to your personal electronic device when you try and retrieve it from the seat. An image of a phone from a similar incident in 2016. Picture: Qantas.

The Herald Sun understands a passenger in business class dropped their phone, which became stuck in the seat.

When they tried to retrieve the phone by moving the seat, the phone was crushed.

“They didn’t say there was a fire, but … my friend overheard two guys talking at the baggage carousel and said the seat was completely destroyed,” the passenger said.

The passenger said staff behaved professionally during the ordeal.

A business class seat on a Qantas Airbus A380.

Cabin crew made an announcement about 10 minutes after the reported incident saying someone had dropped their personal electronic device, everything was under control and there was no longer a need to divert to Sydney.

“It was pretty scary … it panicked a few people,” the passenger said.

Qantas said in a statement: “Our crew are trained to handle these situations and the crew onboard followed all the correct procedures.”

“This incident shows why we ask passengers to seek help from our cabin crew in retrieving their mobile phones.”

The Qantas safety video asks passengers to always seek help from cabin crew in the event of a lost device.