After Note 7, now headphone batteries explode on flight; woman faces burn injuries

The woman, who was travelling from Beijing to Melbourne, was listening to music when the explosion took place

By: Karan Nanda |
March 15, 2017 4:01 pm

Months after many airlines across the globe barred all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones following reports of exploding batteries, a battery-operated headphone caught fire on a flight to Australia. The incident happened on February 19.

According to the reports, the woman, who was travelling from Beijing to Melbourne, was listening to music when the explosion took place. Following this blast, the woman was left with severe burn injuries on her face and neck.

“The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed on the flight from on February 19 when there was a loud explosion,” leading news agency AFP said in its report.

Earlier in 2016, Samsung Electronics’s halted the production of their Note 7 smartphones after several sets caught fire due to flaws in batteries. The Galaxy Note 7 was launched worldwide in August last year.

Samsung, in its investigation report, had said that the design and manufacturing issues related to the batteries were the cause of the fire in Note 7 smartphones.

“Our investigation, as well as investigations completed by three independent industry organisations, concluded that the batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents,” the South Korean tech giant said in a statement.

The Note 7 recall cost the company about USD 5.3 billion, according to estimates.