SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20241223-C8077-2147334421. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Shantou Zhongli Intelligent Technology Co LTD KF700 (J-20 Aircraft Remote Controlled Glider. It is a foam remote controlled airplane gray in color, approximately 16in long, and 12in wide.). Incident: For this item: RC Plane 3 Channel Brushless Foam Glider Plane, 40 kmh Remote Control Plane - Fly Vertically, Inverted & Tumble, Large RC Airplane Toy for Adults Kids Beginners Boys Gifts (Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8KF13YJ?th=1) This toy almost caught on fire on my first attempt to use it!! I have been an avid RC user for years. Various kinds, planes, helicopters and cars. Most RCs share the same few battery connectors, which all are impossible to plug in backwards. I have used lithium batteries in this hobby for atleast 10 years, and I have never had any issue with the batteries, never had one catch fire. This on the other hand, caught fire within a few minutes of me opening the box! You can see the pictures I posted. The battery connector is very flimsy and you can EASILY plug it in backwards. This happened to me and it started smoking heavily and melting the foam and the battery connector. The battery quickly got very hot. Luckily I was still holding the battery and I imminently realized what was happening and unplugged it before the battery itself exploded. This tells me two things, the battery connector is faulty and there is no polarity protection on the plane itself, which would have prevented this entirely. Polarity protection is industry standard. Houses can be burned down and people die from this simple oversight. I would not get this for any child, let alone a 14 year old that the box says it is for.