What’s up with these gadgets and the recurring instances of blowing up in our faces? Then again, if a global leader like Samsung can suffer from such crisis, what spares any other company? In a freak accident on February 19th, a passenger on a flight from Beijing, China to Melbourne, Australia suffered from exploding wireless headphones, which severely burned her face and caused significant damage to her hair and hands.
As per a report published by Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau, the woman, whose identity is being hidden, says she was asleep when the earpiece caught fire, which exploded the battery within her Bluetooth wireless headphones. The report frustratingly also doesn’t disclose the name of the airline or the brand of headphones that caught fire.
It suggests that two hours into the flight, a loud explosion was heard which was led by the headphones catching fire. The woman narrates,
“As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face,” she said. “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. 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.”
The battery and cover were both melted and fused with the floor of the aircraft.
Photos of the woman clearly show how the headphones certainly left their mark. At the time when Samsung Galaxy Note 7 were blowing up like crazy, they were banned on flights due to the risk of fire. Something similar might have to be done with these sort of electronics devices too. And while the electronics ban on a certain airlines is for completely different reasons, it might actually be a blessing in disguise given how things are randomly going off these days.
(Source: ATSB)