Smoke from a power bank sends the Swiss flight to Boston to Dublin

A Swiss aircraft flying from Zurich to Boston broke off its journey during the night to land in the Irish capital. Smoke had developed on board, caused by a power bank.

The crew of flight LX52, which took off from Kloten at 6.11pm on Sunday, requested clearance for a priority landing as soon as they realised what was happening. The airline told Keystone-ATS. The story was first reported by the «Blick» website.

The aircraft, carrying 206 passengers, touched down safely at 3.07am. Travellers spent the rest of the night in a hotel. Before returning to Zurich the plane will be examined thoroughly by specialists, the carrier says.

It is not the first such case in a few weeks. At the end of July a flight by the same airline from Zurich to New York stopped in Bangor, in the American state of Maine. There too smoke forced the crew to land earlier than planned: a headphone case had become wedged in a seat and started to smoke.

The rules on board

After the Bangor episode the Lufthansa subsidiary recalled the rules in force for devices with lithium batteries. Since the start of this year the use of power banks during flight has been prohibited.

Each passenger may carry at most two of these portable batteries, but may not use them to charge devices in the cabin. They must be kept on the person, in the seat pocket or in hand luggage stowed under the seat. They may not travel in the hold or in the overhead locker.

The aircraft diverted to Dublin will stay in Ireland until the experts have finished their checks.