WILLEMSTAD – KLM will not pay financial compensation to passengers of flight KL735 who arrived in Curaçao more than 20 hours late after a power bank caught fire aboard the aircraft last week. The airline considers the incident an “extraordinary circumstance” and says European compensation rules therefore do not apply.
Several passengers submitted compensation claims to KLM following the disruption. In its rejection, the airline said the September 17 flight from Amsterdam to Curaçao was disrupted for “safety and security reasons.”
KLM argues that the circumstances qualify as extraordinary under European Regulation 261/2004 and therefore do not give passengers the right to standard financial compensation. The airline says it did fulfill its duty of care by arranging alternative transportation.
According to passengers, they ultimately arrived in Curaçao more than 20 hours later than originally scheduled.
Flight KL735 departed Amsterdam on September 17 aboard a Boeing 777-300 carrying 322 people. While the aircraft was over the Atlantic Ocean, a power bank belonging to former KLM chief executive Camille Eurlings reportedly overheated, causing fire and smoke inside the cabin.
The crew extinguished the fire, after which the pilots decided to turn the aircraft around and return to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Some passengers in business class were briefly exposed to a cloud of fire-extinguishing agent, while soot particles were also released. Passengers said the smell of smoke remained in the cabin afterward.
Questions Over Response to Power Bank
Some travelers have since filed what they describe as a “serious incident report” with KLM, raising questions about the circumstances leading up to the fire.
Among the issues raised is why intervention did not take place earlier regarding the use of the power bank.
KLM previously confirmed that a power bank caught fire during the flight and said the crew responded in accordance with applicable procedures. The airline is investigating the precise circumstances surrounding the incident.
The dispute over compensation is separate from that investigation. KLM’s position is that the fire constituted an extraordinary circumstance beyond the airline’s control and therefore exempts it from the standard compensation provisions under European passenger-rights legislation.
Passengers who submitted claims have been informed that they will not receive that financial compensation, although KLM maintains that alternative transportation was provided as required.
Whether passengers will challenge KLM’s classification of the incident as an extraordinary circumstance remains unclear.