Air China A332 enroute on Feb 19th 2017, headset batteries suffer thermal runaway

Last Update: March 15, 2017 / 15:53:05 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Air China B-6075, Airbus A330-200 — Air China B-6075, Airbus A330-200 (Photo credit: oliver.holzbauer / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 19, 2017

Classification
Incident

Airline
Air China

Flight number
CA-165

Departure
Beijing, China

Destination
Melbourne, Australia

Aircraft Registration
B-6075

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

An Air China Airbus A330-200, registration B-6075 performing flight CA-165 from Beijing (China) to Melbourne,VI (Australia), was enroute about 2 hours into the flight when the noise cancelling headset of a sleeping passenger started to overheat, the passenger woke up by a bang sound, felt heat on her face and wiped the headset off which slid to around her neck, the heat became worse until she threw the sparkling and melting headset onto the cabin floor and started to step on it. Cabin crew had already reacted and poured water over the headset thus effectively cooling the device down. The headset was subsequently put into a safe container. The aircraft continued the flight to Melbourne for a safe landing about 10 hours later.

Australia's Transportation Safety Board released a generic reminder to passengers stating:

The ATSB reminds passengers using battery-powered devices that:

- batteries should be kept in an approved stowage, unless in use
- spare batteries must be in your carry-on baggage NOT checked baggage
- if a passenger’s smart phone or other device has fallen into the seat gap, locate their device before moving powered seats
- if a passenger cannot locate their device, they should refrain from moving their seat and immediately contact a cabin crew member.

On Mar 15th 2017 the ATSB wrote regarding the occurrence identifying a recent flight from Beijing to Melbourne a woman had been sleeping, when she heard sound of an explosion and quoted the passenger:

As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face, 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 ATSB reported the battery and cover were both melted and stuck to the floor of the aircraft before being secured into a container.