More than 160 passengers were evacuated from a JetBlue flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Christmas Eve because of a fire emergency taking place when a customer's electronic device malfunctioned and started to smoke.
According to New York Fire Department officials, the jet, coming in from Barbados was evacuated shortly after landing and was evacuated through the use of emergency slides, reports Mediaite.
In all, 167 passengers were taken from the plane, with five sustaining minor injuries.
Reports were varied over whether the customer's device was a laptop or phone charger.
The situation came while the nation's airlines were in a struggle to handle masses of holiday travelers who were flying despite cold weather and storms that caused thousands of flights to either be delayed or canceled.
"Saturday, JetBlue flight 662 with service from Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) was evacuated shortly after landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) due to reports of a customer’s malfunctioning electronic device or battery," JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said in a statement “Safety is always our number one priority, and we are investigating this incident in coordination with the [Federal Aviation Administration] and [National Transportation Safety Board].”
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.