EasyJet Flight EZY2618 was diverted after a passenger informed the cabin crew that there was a power bank charging in their luggage. This led to landing in Rome and the flight being rescheduled for the next morning.
Onboard the Flight
On May 19, 2026, easyJet Flight EZY2618 was forced to make a mid-air emergency diversion to Rome after a passenger admitted that a power bank was actively charging a phone inside their checked baggage in the cargo hold.
The flight was travelling from Hurghada, Egypt, to London Luton Airport (LTN) when the passenger alerted the cabin crew. The pilot issued an emergency Squawk 7700 code, and it instantly flashed a red alert on the screens of all nearby Air Traffic Control (ATC) units, giving Flight EZY2618 immediate priority over all other airspace traffic. The captain initiated an immediate descent and precautionary landing at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to The Sun.
Passengers faced significant disruption and an overnight delay. Some travellers were put up in local hotels, while others had to sleep in the terminal because the next available easyJet flight to Luton was not until the following afternoon.
Why Are Power Banks Banned?
Although power banks aren’t banned on planes, they are banned from checked-in hold luggage; they must be packed inside your hand luggage or carried on your person so the crew can quickly access them in the rare event of a fire. This is due to the fact that lithium-ion batteries pose a severe fire risk and cannot be easily detected or suppressed in an aircraft’s cargo hold. Therefore, the crew treated it as an urgent safety violation.
A spokesperson stated:
“The safety of its passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines.”
The airline also apologised to the passengers for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and the delay.
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