Warnings issued after mid-flight headphone fire
Monday, 17 Mar, 2017
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Aviation authorities have issued guidance to passengers travelling with battery-powered devices after a woman’s headphones caught fire mid-flight.
She had fallen asleep on the flight from Beijing to Melbourne when she was woken by the sound of an explosion, said the BBC.
She tore off the headphones, which were sparking. They then caught fire and melted.
The unnamed woman, an Australian, was left with a blackened face and blisters on her hands.
A report by the Australian Aviation Safety Authority said it was likely a fault with a lithium-ion battery and it has published a set of guidelines for travelling safely with batteries and power packs, warning that ‘as the range of products using batteries grows, the potential for in-flight issues increases’.
Last year, malfunctioning batteries in Samsung’s Note 7 caused some of the smartphones to overheat, catch fire and melt on flights. The product has since been scrapped.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau also issued a warning.
"The ATSB has assessed that it is the batteries, as the power source that caught on fire and are therefore the issue. All batteries contain stored energy and are therefore potentially risky."
ATSB officials are still conducting an investigation.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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