Lenovo is
investigating a laptop fire at Los Angeles airport last week that
caused panic in a departure lounge after fears of a terrorist
attack.
Lenovo has yet to
confirm whether the laptop involved was using a Sony battery.
Problems with Sony batteries have led to millions of laptop
batteries from Dell and Apple being recalled after some users’ Dell
machines caught fire.
Lenovo has
confirmed that the laptop involved was a ThinkPad T43 machine which
ships with a Sony battery, but because some users may have replaced
their original batteries, Lenovo has not yet confirmed which
battery was involved.
The company, which
bought IBM’s desktop and laptop PC business 18 months ago,
immediately sent its own investigators to the airport on hearing of
the incident.
Witnesses of the
incident said a man rushed back from the plane loading ramp after
his machine caught fire, which panicked other passengers who
thought a terrorist attack was under way.
The machine
created a large fire which had to be put out by security personnel.
Lenovo has said its Sony batteries were not affected by the
potential fire hazard in the Dell and Apple machines.
Lenovo laptop
batteries may now join Dell and Apple machines in being banned by
an increasing number of airlines.
Virgin, Quantas
and Korean Air have already banned the use of Dell and Apple laptop
batteries on their flights.
Earlier this week
Toshiba recalled 340,000 Sony laptop batteries which may fail. It
said they did not pose a fire hazard though.
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