Minnesota Travelers Alert: Samsung Galaxy Note7 Flight Ban

If you're flying this summer, be sure you don't have this particular cell phone in your pocket or packed in your bag, because it has been banned from all flights here in Minnesota.

If you're taking to the friendly skies heading out on vacation this summer, you definitely won't be alone. According to the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), over 18.5 million Americans are expected to travel by air over the 4th of July holiday period alone!

So if you are flying sometime this summer, while you'll want to bring your REAL ID with you, you'd better make sure you leave this cell phone back at home. Because it's been banned from all flights leaving from and flying back to Minnesota. And *all* 49 other states and every other destination for that matter.

SEE ALSO: TSA Officers Made a Startling Discovery at MSP Airport This June

TSA officers have been busy here in Minnesota so far in 2025. Earlier this spring, the TSA said its security officers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) stopped not one, but two loaded handguns in separate incidents on the same day, Tuesday, June 3, 2025.

TSA officers at MSP had already intercepted 20 firearms at security checkpoints previous to that incident, bringing the 2025 total to 22 weapons seized so far. That compares to a total of 52 firearms that TSA agents intercepted at MSP throughout all of 2024.

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But now they might intercept *this* cell phone if you happen to have it in your pocket, in your carry-on bag, or checked in your luggage. Because the TSA just issued an emergency order banning this phone on any plane, anywhere in the U.S. So just which phone is it? That would be the Samsung Galaxy 7.

George Frey/Getty Images

Here's what the TSA said:

The U.S. Department of Transportation, with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, have issued an emergency order to ban all Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone devices from air transportation in the United States.

The TSA emergency order went on to say that if you own or possess a Samsung Galaxy Note7 device, you 'may not transport the device on your person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States.'

Seeing as we all use our phones constantly these days, it's pretty rare that the TSA would ban an entire model. The Samsung Galaxy Note7 is an older model, produced 9 years ago in 2016. And it apparently has a battery issue that could cause it to potentially explode or catch on fire, according to The Street.

The threat of explosions or phones catching on fire caused Samsung to recall the Galaxy Note7 and permanently discontinue this particular device in October 2016. So it's unlikely you or someone you know is still using it. But just in case, here's your reminder to leave it at home if you're flying!

And if you *are* flying sometime this holiday weekend or later this summer, keep scrolling to check out some other items you are NOT permitted to check in your bags at any airport here in Minnesota or Wisconsin.