LUV Southwest Airlines Co

Smoke coming from a Samsung Electronics Co. device prompted Southwest Airlines Co. to evacuate a flight Wednesday.

A customer on board Southwest Flight 994 from Louisville, Ky., to Baltimore noticed smoke coming from the device before the plane took off, Southwest said in a statement. The airline didn't identify what model of Samsung device was involved.

A Samsung spokeswoman didn't have any immediate comment.

In September, Samsung initiated a recall to replace 1 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in the U.S. that could ignite due to faulty lithium-ion batteries.

Shortly after, the Federal Aviation Administration urged passengers to avoid using Note 7 smartphones entirely on board airlines. Many airlines began ordering travelers to turn off their Note 7 phones before boarding the aircraft.

The passengers and crew on the Southwest flight exited safely through the main cabin door, according to Southwest.

"We encourage our customers to comply with the FAA Pack Safe guidelines," Southwest said.

Last month, Samsung began replacing the phones with new devices equipped with different batteries. The recall was dogged by conflicting information and Samsung's failure at the outset to coordinate efforts with U.S. safety authorities.

Write to Georgia Wells at Georgia.Wells@wsj.com and Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2016 15:55 ET (19:55 GMT)

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