Woman suffers burns after headphones catch fire on flight to Australia
Australian officials did not say how severe her burns were.
— -- A woman suffered burns to her face after the battery-operated headphones she was using on a recent flight caught fire, Australian safety officials announced Wednesday.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau did not say how severe the woman's injuries were, but she later told investigators that she heard a loud explosion while sleeping.
The agency did not reveal the name, age or nationality of the woman.
“As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face,” the woman was quoted as saying in a statement from the agency. “I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck."
The woman threw the headphones on to the ground while they continued to spark and emit flames, she told investigators. A flight attendant soon appeared with a bucket of water to pour on the fire.
The headphones were placed in a bucket at the rear of the plane.
"The battery and cover were both melted and stuck to the floor of the aircraft," the agency said in the statement.
Passengers would smell melted plastic, burnt electronics and charred hair for the remainder of the flight.
“People were coughing and choking the entire way home,” the woman was quoted as saying in the statement.
The ATSB concluded the batteries within the woman's headphones caught fire. The agency did not specify the type of headphones or batteries.
The ATSB did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for more information on the incident.
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