Editorials

SALT LAKE CITY — An American Airlines flight bound for San Francisco from Chicago was diverted to Salt Lake City after a passenger tried to recharge a battery with a cigarette lighter. 

Maxim Segalov, who allegedly put a flame to an AA-size battery on the Tuesday flight, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. He was to appear at a detention hearing Thursday, said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office. 

A call to Segalov’s attorney was not immediately returned Wednesday. 

Segalov, 22, is a native of Belarus and a student at San Jose State University. His traveling companion was also detained but later released. 

Heating batteries is known to be a homespun way of eking out a few more hours of life.