Inside a tornado-hardened office in Texas, 1,700 American Airlines employees manage the carrier’s operations, responding to bad weather, plane trouble and ailing passengers.
The Air Force refueling tanker was flying without its location transponder activated and could not be detected by air traffic control.
The battery spontaneously combusted while stored in a luggage in the overhead bin. The airline said there were no injuries.
Officials are investigating why the power source, used when electrical or hydraulic pressure fails, was deployed over the weekend. The same system was activated during a deadly crash in June.