A woman suffered burns to her face and hands after her headphones caught fire during a flight
New Delhi:
After a passenger's headphones exploded while she was on a flight in Australia, her face and hands were burnt. Cabin crew poured a bucket of water as mid-air first aid; others endured the smell of melted plastic and burnt hair for the remainder of their journey on account of the headphones bursting into fire. That was a month ago, and it's still not clear what caused the explosion. But for many of us, who travel with headphones onto planes to listen to music on our phones, or to watch videos on our tablets, the accident raises many concerns. Parents often give children headphones on long flights to keep them entertained. So what can we make of this latest controversy?
Here are 5 points we put together for you:
- The most important advice while dealing with electronics, in-flight and on ground, is to use original batteries and chargers. Over the years, cheap / counterfeit chargers / batteries have been found to be the root cause behind most fires / explosions, though the Galaxy Note 7-related incidents were obviously an exception.
- While most headphones do not come with batteries, if your headphones do, follow the same precautions as with any other electronics.
- Whenever possible, do not check-in battery-powered devices, and carry them in your cabin baggage. In the cabin, airline flight crews can better monitor conditions, and have access to the batteries or device if a fire does occur.
- Spare batteries and power banks should be carried in the cabin baggage, and shouldn't be checked-in.
- If you're travelling with spare batteries in addition to the ones inside your devices, TSA advises you to "consider placing each battery in its own protective case, plastic bag, or package, or place tape across the battery's contacts to isolate terminals".
