Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Problems: Air Travel Advisory Issued As Smartphone Fires, Explosions Aboard Possible, FAA Says

Samsung's massive recall of millions of its signature Galaxy Note 7 smartphone affects any airplane passenger who owns one of the devices, as the federal agency overseeing and regulating air travel has issued a warning advising against bringing them on board any flight. The smartphones have been recalled over the chance of them igniting into fire or even exploding.

In fact, passengers have been advised against even packing them in luggage as the risk of ignition is apparently too great to take a chance on, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Thursday evening via an official statement.

"In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage," the agency said.

The U.S. appeared to be following in Australia's footsteps after the land down under put the Galaxy Note 7 on its official no-fly list, CNET reported. Three of the country's airlines previously banned any traveler from even charging the device on a flight before the country took action to outright prohibit it from coming aboard at all.

The apparent deficiency in the Samsung devices stems from a defective battery that has at times caused fires and explosions, although that is not the case for each of the smartphones. However, out of an abundance of caution, the Japanese company last week issued a global recall affecting 2.5 million smartphones.

As if the recall wasn't bad enough news, Apple debuted its new iPhone 7 on Wednesday. The iPhone is Samsung's main competition in the smartphone business. Thursday's news could spur existing Samsung smartphone users to abandon ship and buy an iPhone, which has also had previous reported instances of its batteries exploding, though there has yet to be a recall over the apparent defect.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recently debuted before its sales were abruptly halted over the defective battery issues.