The cabin of a passenger plane was filled with smoke after a battery caught fire mid-air.

The shocking incident took place on a Spirit Airlines flight bound from Dallas to Orlando during which a device connected to a portable battery caught fire in the overhead compartment.

As a result of the fire, the entire cabin was quickly filled with smoke and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Jacksonville.

Following the emergency landing at around 2 pm on Wednesday, as many as ten people were rushed to the hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.

Fortunately, no one has suffered life-threatening injuries, the authorities confirmed.

While the fire in the overhead compartment was promptly suppressed, things could get much worse if not for retired New York City firefighter Rocco Chierichella and the well-trained members of the crew.

Together, Chierichella and the airline staff put out the fire using a fire extinguisher before the flames or the smoke could spread out of control.

“I’m a retired New York City fireman, I guess it’s just instinct. Luckily we got to it right away so we averted a major problem, it could have been really bad,” the former serviceman told CNN.

Recalling the incident was also passenger Joseph Fleck who branded Chierichella as a hero.

“Someone yelled ‘fire’ and I look up to see the cabin filling with smoke very fast,” the man recalled in an interview with CNN.

“A few passengers jumped up to open the overhead bin and saw a backpack on fire due to a battery pack that was charging a cell phone. It had basically exploded.

“The smell was terrible and made it very hard to breathe. I was coughing a lot for a good two hours after.”

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