Southwest plane evacuated after cellphone battery catches fire, airline says

Southwest Airlines says passengers on a flight from Denver to Houston were evacuated Friday after a passenger's phone caught fire.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said Flight 3316 was still at the gate preparing to depart when a passenger's cell phone battery caught fire.

According to the airline, the crew extinguished the phone and a nearby seat that caught fire. Passengers evacuated the aircraft, with those in the front using the door/jet bridge and those in the back using an emergency slide.

The airline said first responders treated the phone's owner for burns. Another passenger suffered a minor injury during the evacuation.

Southwest Airlines said they put the passengers on another flight to Houston. Data from FlightAware showed the flight arrived at Hobby Airport more than three and a half hours late.

It's unclear how or why the phone caught fire. The fire is under investigation.