Smoking laptop nearly brings down plane

A Virgin Blue Boeing 737-700 was half an hour from Coolangatta on a flight from Sydney late yesterday when the pilot radioed ahead to have emergency services put on standby.

Apparently the cabin crew noticed an electrical smell in the cabin and warned the captain.

What they didn't notice was a person whose laptop was getting a little warm or why the electrical smell was mixed with that of burning trousers. The smell disappeared when the crew went to action stations, because the passenger put his laptop away.

The plane landed without incident but later checked by engineers just in case. We don't know what happened to the laptop. However, we should point out to any suicide bombers that using an overheated laptop to set fire to your crotch is not the best way to kill yourself. It is better to drown in the rising tide of pornography.

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