Exploding drink cans are causing in-flight injuries due to soaring summer temperatures

Exploding soft drink cans are causing in-flight injuries due to soaring summer temperatures. Photo / Getty Images

Summer in the United States is seriously hot and it’s violently blowing up soft drink cans.

A bizarre threat caused airline officials, employees, and American travellers to be on alert last week after a series of incidents involving soft drink cans injured a number of flight attendants on Southwest Airlines’ flights.

Southwest officials have confirmed with numerous news sources, including the Washington Post, the Independent, and CBS News, that cans of carbonated drinks have been exploding in-flight, and have injured at least 20 flight attendants since the northern summer started.

In an emailed statement sent to the Independent, an airline spokesperson said, “We’re aware of this issue and have been taking steps to keep onboard beverages cooler, especially in our airports experiencing extreme temperatures”.

Chris Perry, a Southwest spokesperson, also told the Washington Post that it’s due to intense heat temperatures in the area, specifically at Las Vegas in Nevada, Phoenix in Arizona, and a few Texas airports.

Perry said: “Airports where we have a large presence — such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and many in Texas — continue to receive record temperatures, with severe heat arriving earlier and persisting throughout the summer”.

“For the safety of our employees and customers, we are taking education and mitigation measures on all heat-related hazards.”

Soft drink cans have been erupting and causing injury on flights in the US. Photo / Getty Images

For most airlines, beverages are usually stored in refrigerated trucks, but since Southwest Airlines don’t serve meals or perishable goods, soft drinks are stored in airports and can be exposed to extreme temperatures.

On a normal day, it might not be a problem, but due to the record-breaking hot temperatures over summer, the cans have been heating up, which increases their internal pressure, and then they blow up once opened.

Flight attendants are usually the ones who open the cans and serve passengers, which is why the incidents have mostly involved flight crew.

Southwest Airlines has advised on-ground personnel and in-flight crews to be wary of these cans to ensure safety.

Southwest Airlines confirmed with multiple news sources that they are working on a strategy to fix the exploding cans problem. Photo / 123rf

Ground crews are now required to digitally measure the temperature of the cans before loading them onto the plane, while in-flight crew are directed to be wary of deformed cans.

Southwest did not provide any further details about the injuries sustained by the flight attendants.

As yet, there have been no passenger injuries reported.