Passenger’s Lost Phone Causes Mid-Air Turnaround, Sending Entire Flight Home

Apr 16, 2025 by apost team

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In a bizarre mid-air twist that’s raised more than a few eyebrows, an Air France flight bound for Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe was forced to return to Paris after a passenger reported losing her phone. What initially seemed like a routine mishap turned into an aviation detour that left social media buzzing and travel experts divided.

Multiple news outlets reported that the Air France plane was forced to return only two hours after taking off from Paris after the passenger lost their phone. According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, the incident happened on Mar. 21, 2025, during Flight AF750’s planned journey to its destination in the formerly French-governed territory in the Caribbean. The website also reported that the plane took off from Orly, Paris, around noon before making its subsequent U-turn, which had it returning to the same airport at 2:37 pm.

Nearly two hours later, the website reported that the flight took off again at 4:13 pm, presumably resolving the initial problem. This time, it arrived at its destination in Pointe-a-Pitre without mishap after the nine-hour journey. However, the unplanned detour still inconvenienced the 375 passengers and 12 crew members on board the flight. While the plane was presumably rerouted back to Paris after the passenger lost their phone, it was officially reported that the aircraft was turned back as a safety measure.

After takeoff, the passenger’s phone could not be found aboard, even after the crew assisted in the search, prompting a swift return to Paris. Upon the flight’s arrival back at Orly, the search for the smartphone immediately resumed. Maintenance teams quickly worked to find the missing gadget. Fortunately, the phone was found, and 20 minutes later, the plane departed for Guatemala again.

Air Plus News later reported:

“A passenger’s phone slipped through a galley air vent and ended up in an inaccessible area. ... Fearing that the phone's lithium battery had been damaged, creating a fire risk, the crew decided to divert the flight to Paris as a precaution.”

According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website, there were 86 reported accidents involving smoke, extreme heat and fire due to cellphones. These incidents occurred between March 2006 and February 2025. Cellphones must be switched off or on flight mode during the takeoff and landing of any flight so that they don’t interfere with the navigation and communication systems of the aircraft.

However, the Air France flight incident is not isolated, as other flights have faced similar issues. One flight attendant recalled a similar incident during one of her flights.

“Just to underscore how frequent this is, I recently had a passenger lose her phone in the seat 3 times in 1 hour. Needless to say, she was told to put her phone inside her suitcase until landing,” she said.

Ultimately, experts agree that the more technology advances, the more chances of these occurrences happening. The primary concern is that the increase in gadgets that people travel with and those already on the plane increases the risk of gadget loss and fire when damaged. Travel blogger Ben Shlappig wrote:

“You have people traveling with a lot more electronics, and at the same time, you have (premium) seats that are becoming increasingly complex, with more motorized functions. ... This increases the risk of passengers losing electronics, and even more, it increases the risk of a fire.”

apost.com

What do you think of this? How would you have reacted if you had been on the same flight? Let us know your thoughts, and then pass this on to your loved ones!