Narrative:

Customer was checking in at our lobby and had to check in his bag. We identified it as a first generation smart bag. While the customer was trying to remove the lithium battery from the bag; it began to smoke and spark from the battery. The bag was eventually moved out to the curb where a fire extinguisher was used on it. The first generation smart bag presents an issue as we frequently see them at the airport used by customers; but the batteries are very difficult to remove and usually only removed from inside of the luggage after accessing the panel with a screwdriver. Sometimes the battery does not easily slide out.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two air carrier CSRs reported vacating area due to smoke and fumes released from Smart Bag lithium battery.

Narrative: Customer was checking in at our lobby and had to check in his bag. We identified it as a first generation smart bag. While the customer was trying to remove the lithium battery from the bag; it began to smoke and spark from the battery. The bag was eventually moved out to the curb where a fire extinguisher was used on it. The first generation smart bag presents an issue as we frequently see them at the airport used by customers; but the batteries are very difficult to remove and usually only removed from inside of the luggage after accessing the panel with a screwdriver. Sometimes the battery does not easily slide out.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.