A woman’s headphones exploded midflight from Beijing to Melbourne, raising concerns that the use of battery-powered devices on flights could be a hazard.
The woman, who has not been identified, was apparently sleep on the plane while listening to music when she felt a burning sensation on her face, according to BBC News.
She immediately took the headphones off and threw them to the floor.
“I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck. I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor,” the woman told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The headphones caught fire and began to melt.
“They were sparking and had small amounts of fire,” the passenger said.
Members of the flight crew threw a bucket of water on the headphones to put out the fire, but that didn’t stop the plane from smelling like smoke for the rest of the flight.
“For the remainder of the flight, passengers endured the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair,” the ATSB said in a report.
“People were coughing and choking the entire way home,” according to the New York Daily News.
Even though it’s not exactly clear what caused the headphones to catch fire, the report suggests that the batteries in the device might be the reason.
The ATSB says it will not be releasing the brand of the headphones though, considering the belief that it’s a battery issue and not the fault of the headphones themselves, the Daily News noted.
The incident that left the woman’s face blackened comes after airlines have recently banned a Samsung smartphone from being carried on flights.
After Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones were recalled following reports that they had exploded spontaneously, airlines banned passengers from being able to carry the smartphones on flights.
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