A Swiss International Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration HB-JHK performing flight LX-16 from Zurich (Switzerland) to New York JFK,NY (USA) with 229 people on board, was enroute at FL320 about 100nm southeast of Bangor,ME (USA) when the crew decided to divert to Bangor reporting smoke of unknown source. The crew subsequently reported they had had an active fire in the cockpit that they were unable to put out. They opened the door to the cabin to let the smoke out, the smoke subsided but they had smoke in the cabin now. ATC relayed this information of the active fire in the cockpit and smoke being let into the cabin to emergency services waiting to receive the aircraft. The crew advised they were going to stop on the runway but for now were not going to evacuate. The aircraft landed on Bangor's runway 33 about 25 minutes after leaving FL320, stopped at the end of the runway and shut both engines down. The crew requested emergency services to enter the aircraft with infrared equipment to check the interior out. Fire fighters entered the aircraft via door L1 but also could not identify the source of the smoke, there was no fire or heat.
The airline reported there was an unclear development of smoke in the most forward part of the business class. The aircraft was able to land in Bangor, there was no fire or heat detected. The aircraft is now going to checked, the airline is working to get the passengers to JFK.
The FAA reported: "Swiss International Air Lines Flight 16F safely landed at Bangor International Airport in Maine around noon on Monday, July 27, after the crew reported a cockpit fire. The Airbus A330 was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland to JFK International Airport in New York. The FAA will investigate."
On Jul 28th 2026 Swiss Press Office asked The Aviation Herald to change our coverage to cabin smoke, which we declined based on the audio recordings and the FAA statement of "Cockpit Fire".
Subsequently the FAA changed their wording to: "Swiss International Air Lines Flight 16F safely landed at Bangor International Airport in Maine around noon on Monday, July 27, after the crew reported cabin smoke. The Airbus A330 was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland to JFK International Airport in New York. The FAA will investigate."
And Swiss e-mailed us again to make us aware of that change again demanding we change our wording. Based on the audio evidence we again declined but offered to include a statement by Swiss.
On Jul 29th 2026 The Aviation Herald received another e-mail from Swiss' Press Office stating, that there had been no fire in the cockpit but smoke in the cabin according to results of checks, however, it was possible that initially there was talk about a fire in the cockpit. The situation improved until landing and was stable at landing. (Editorial note: ATC and emergency services clearly were informed about and acted according to an active fire in the cockpit until after landing).
On Jul 29th 2026 evening Swiss announced, that the cause of the smoke has been identified. According to checks so far a standard commercial charging case for headphones containing Lithium batteries had fallen into a seat and had been jammed causing damage to the device so that it overheated and emitted smoke.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWR16/history/20260727/0810Z/LSZH/KJFK
The found charging case (Photo: Swiss):
The airline reported there was an unclear development of smoke in the most forward part of the business class. The aircraft was able to land in Bangor, there was no fire or heat detected. The aircraft is now going to checked, the airline is working to get the passengers to JFK.
The FAA reported: "Swiss International Air Lines Flight 16F safely landed at Bangor International Airport in Maine around noon on Monday, July 27, after the crew reported a cockpit fire. The Airbus A330 was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland to JFK International Airport in New York. The FAA will investigate."
On Jul 28th 2026 Swiss Press Office asked The Aviation Herald to change our coverage to cabin smoke, which we declined based on the audio recordings and the FAA statement of "Cockpit Fire".
Subsequently the FAA changed their wording to: "Swiss International Air Lines Flight 16F safely landed at Bangor International Airport in Maine around noon on Monday, July 27, after the crew reported cabin smoke. The Airbus A330 was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland to JFK International Airport in New York. The FAA will investigate."
And Swiss e-mailed us again to make us aware of that change again demanding we change our wording. Based on the audio evidence we again declined but offered to include a statement by Swiss.
On Jul 29th 2026 The Aviation Herald received another e-mail from Swiss' Press Office stating, that there had been no fire in the cockpit but smoke in the cabin according to results of checks, however, it was possible that initially there was talk about a fire in the cockpit. The situation improved until landing and was stable at landing. (Editorial note: ATC and emergency services clearly were informed about and acted according to an active fire in the cockpit until after landing).
On Jul 29th 2026 evening Swiss announced, that the cause of the smoke has been identified. According to checks so far a standard commercial charging case for headphones containing Lithium batteries had fallen into a seat and had been jammed causing damage to the device so that it overheated and emitted smoke.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWR16/history/20260727/0810Z/LSZH/KJFK
The found charging case (Photo: Swiss):
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