Forgotten iPad Forces Diversion. How This Plays Out To Hawaii

Flight diversions, like engine trouble, medical emergencies, or unruly passengers, are usually dramatic. But a recent flight was forced to land early for a far less dramatic reason: an unclaimed electronic device.

While it sounds absurd, it raises an interesting question for Hawaii travelers. Could this happen mid-Pacific? And if it did, what exactly would the plane do?

A forgotten iPad forces a diversion.

This unusual event happened aboard Transavia, an Air France-owned airline, flying a Boeing 737 on the 900-mile route from Paris to Lisbon. Everything was routine until the crew discovered an iPad onboard that didn’t belong to any passenger.

Unable to confirm ownership, the crew declared a mayday and diverted the flight to Porto, Portugal, about 100 miles away. The plane landed safely, spent 90 minutes on the ground, then continued to Lisbon, arriving about two hours late.

There was no smoke, fire, or wires. It was just a forgotten iPad—and an airline playing it very safe.

Why airline policies are so strict.

Most travelers assume a lost device is harmless, and it often is. But airline procedures, in the U.S. and Europe, are shaped by worst-case thinking. Any unclaimed item can be treated as a potential threat.

Crews operate under this playbook. And when it came to this flight, with plenty of nearby airports in Europe, getting on the ground quickly was often seen as the least risky option.

But that’s anything but the case when you’re flying to or from Hawaii — home to some of the world’s longest over-water flights.

Once a plane leaves the mainland and heads toward Hawaii, there are no quick or easy outs. The next suitable runway could be well over 1,000 miles away. In many cases, the only realistic options are to push on to Honolulu or turn back hours to the mainland — neither of which happens lightly.

Hawaii flights face unique challenges.

Diversions for flights between Hawaii and the mainland have no place to go but back or forward. Once a plane leaves the West Coast, it’s committed to five or more hours over open ocean with no diversion options.

Flights to Hawaii operate under ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards), which require aircraft to be within a certain distance of a diversion airport at all times. This means, among other things, that routes are carefully planned, extra fuel is carried, and crews are trained for remote operations.

Still, options are limited. Airports like Honolulu or Kona are obvious choices, but anything else is usually far beyond reach. In most cases, diverting over the Pacific is an absolute last resort.

We’ve been there too.

Here at Beat of Hawaii, we know a thing or two about airline diversions. Our article archives are filled with hydraulic failures, engine issues, unruly passengers, battery warnings, and many more causes.

But this iPad story hits a little closer to home because, like many travelers, we’ve also been guilty of inadvertently leaving devices behind. A tablet in a seat pocket was what happened to editor Jeff. A phone tucked under a cushion happened to editor Rob — though he realized just in time to retrieve it before disembarking. It just happens.

Most of the time, those items stay onboard quietly until cleaners or crew find them later. Jeff’s tablet was returned to him by the airline. But what if the timing is wrong? What if the device looks suspicious? That’s when things can change rapidly.

A real risk: lithium battery fires.

Interestingly, the most significant danger with left-behind devices on Hawaii flights isn’t security. It’s lithium batteries.

If a phone or tablet slips deep into a seat mechanism and gets crushed during recline or adjustment, the battery can overheat and ignite — a real fire hazard at altitude. And this isn’t just theoretical. There have been multiple incidents where devices caught fire mid-flight, including one on a Hawaiian Airlines flight that prompted an emergency response. That’s one reason passengers are asked to inform the flight crew if an electronic device falls between the seats.

Lithium battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. Crews are trained to cool the device, use special fire containment bags, and, in rare cases, divert the flight if the situation can’t be controlled.

Read more about how fire containment bags are standard on many Hawaii flights.

That’s a far more common — and understandable — reason for a diversion than simply finding an unclaimed iPad.

What this means for Hawaii travelers.

The takeaway here isn’t that Hawaii flights are immune to forgotten devices. They operate in a much higher-stakes environment when it comes to diversions.

A forgotten iPad found 30 minutes from Lisbon is one thing. Finding the same device halfway between Honolulu and San Francisco is something else entirely.

Chances are, a crew would isolate the item, notify authorities, and continue on—unless there were visible signs of danger. Turning back or diverting over the Pacific comes with enormous complexities of cost, time, and logistical challenges.

A simple way to avoid joining this club.

If there’s one takeaway from this odd little saga, it’s this: Take ten extra seconds before you leave your seat. Actually, check for your valuables, like electronics. Look in the seat pocket. Look under the seat. Look everywhere.

Airplanes are like dark little caves for electronics. And once you leave something behind, getting it back can range from easy to impossible — or, in rare cases like this, it might even land your flight somewhere you never planned to be.

Better yet, label your stuff. Jeff’s returned tablet had his contact info on the lock screen, which turned out to be a smart move that quickly returned it to him.

And if you realize after you’ve stepped off the plane that something’s missing? Time is everything. Notify the airline immediately — before that device goes jet-setting again across the Pacific without you.

Your turn: have you ever left something behind on a Hawaii flight? Would you expect an airline to divert over a forgotten device? Let us know in the comments.