An Australian woman had her hair scorched and face blackened after battery-powered headphones she was listening to exploded mid-flight from Beijing to Melbourne, transport authorities said Wednesday.
About two hours into the flight, the passenger, who was listening to music while sleeping, heard a loud explosion and felt her face burning, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in a statement.
She then threw her headphones to the floor.
“They were sparking and had small amounts of fire,” the woman was quoted as saying in the statement.
“As I went to stamp my foot on them the flight attendants were already there with a bucket of water to pour on them … The battery and cover were both melted and stuck to the floor of the aircraft.”
For the remainder of the flight, passengers endured the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair, the ATSB said.
“People were coughing and choking the entire way home,” the passenger said.
The bureau did not mention which company had manufactured the headphones, but said the incident illustrated a broader risk with battery-powered devices on flights.
Recently, smartphones and hoverboards have been involved in similar mid-flight incidents, leading to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which
uses lithium-ion batteries, to undergo a worldwide recall last year.
