The woman who suffered facial injuries. Pic/AFP
A woman suffered facial injuries when her headphones exploded on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne
It is first such incident in Australia and the explosion took place on February 19, according to Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)
The incident occurred when the woman who had been sleeping on the plane heard a loud explosion about two hours into the flight and felt her face burning. She threw her headphones to the floor.
“As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face, I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck.
Headphones injury. Pic/AFP
“I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire. As I went to stamp my foot on them the flight attendants were already there with a bucket of water to pour on them. They put them into the bucket at the rear of the plane.”
According to ATSB, the battery and cover were both melted and stuck to the floor of the aircraft.
Flight attendants returned to check on her wellbeing. For the remainder of the flight, passengers endured the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair. “People were coughing and choking the entire way home,” the passenger said.
The bureau has now assessed that the batteries in the device likely caught fire and it should be kept in stowage unless in use. The bereau also added that the batteries should be in carry-on baggage, not checked baggage.
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