'I saw my life flash before my eyes' - Woman's iPhone catches fire mid-flight

Anna Crail thought her flight was going down after her phone burst into flames mid-flight. Photo / Facebook

A young woman's iPhone burst into flames while she was on an Alaska Airlines flight from Washington to Hawaii.

Anna Crail, who was flying to Honolulu for her spring break vacation, was watching a movie on Thursday night when her smartphone suddenly caught on fire.

The phone fell underneath a seat and passengers scrambled to the aisles before flight attendants extinguished the fire.

When the iPhone 6 broke out in flames, the airplane, which was carrying 163 passengers, was still 90 minutes away from landing.

Crail, who initially thought the plane was going down, wrote on Twitter: 'Legit saw my life flash before my eyes tonight when my phone burst into flames midflight and caught the plane on fire.'

The Wenatchee Valley College student told KOMO-TV: 'All of the sudden there was like 8-inch flames coming out of my phone.

'And I flipped it off onto the ground and it got under someone's seat, and the flames were just getting higher and a bunch of people stood up.'

It is unclear whether Crail had been watching a movie on her phone, or enjoying the airplane's in-flight entertainment.

While hoverboards have been banned from planes due to their highly flammable lithium batteries, an aviation expert told KOMO it is improbable that smartphones will be prohibited anytime soon.

An Alaska Airlines spokesman said their staff members are well-trained to respond to emergency incidents.

No one was injured and the flight continued on to its destination.

Alaska Airlines has not determined the cause of the fire, and the Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation.