This must have been a distressing experience.
If you’re planning a holiday or travelling by air anytime soon, this is probably something to note. It seems it’s not just the notorious Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and hoverboards that have a worrying propensity to catch alight during flights.
The Australian government’s Transport Safety Bureau released a report on Wednesday about a passenger who suffered the ordeal of her headphones catching fire on a flight from Beijing, China to Melbourne, Australia. She was asleep when the device she was wearing exploded into flames, and burned her face and hair.
The incident occurred on February 19 of this year, but the passenger’s name, the airline, and quite importantly, the brand of the the headphones have not been released. When news of the Note 7 overheating and catching alight on flights became public knowledge, it did huge damage to both model sales and Samsung’s reputation.
The Bureau do believe that the headphones’ batteries were the likely cause, so you may want to consider that when flying. Some headphones – particularly those with a noise-cancelling function – use batteries and are often worn to block out sound rather play any music. Devices using lithium, usually in the battery, can be susceptible.
