Explosion on plane
A woman got serious facial burns from a headphone when its battery exploded while on a flight to Australia. It is reported that the woman fell asleep on the plane wile wearing the headphones. A loud Explosion awakened her just 2 hours after the plane took off. She felt a burning sensation on her face and snatched the headphones of. When she threw them on the floor of the plane, they were still sparking.
Flight Attendants to the rescue
Flight attendants on the plane acted quickly to douse the headphones with water . The battery and the cover had melted and they were stuck to the floor.
However, passengers were subjected to an unpleasant burning smell for the duration of the flight and many passengers were said to be coughing and choking. The woman had burns on her hand face and hair in the aftermath of the explosion. Dark blotches were observed on the woman's face and neck as well as blisters on her hand.
Safety precautions
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed that the passenger fell asleep during the flight while wearing her headphones and that the she suffered burns as a result of the headphones exploding. The Bureau offered some safety tips for passengers using battery powered devices. Safety tips include keeping the device in approved storage when not being used and knowing where the device is before moving powered seats.
It is not known at this time what type of battery was in the device but the Bureau stated that it was likely the lithium-ion batteries and not the headphones that exploded.
Exploding batteries on planes
Due to a well publicized problem with Samsung Galaxy Note 7 these devices were banned from all US flights due to an issue of spontaneously igniting.
Research has found that lithium-ion batteries can explode and burn and are even more dangerous than previously thought. Passengers are still allowed to take battery powered devices on a plane so there is always the probability that more incidents of exploding batteries could occur in future.
