 Headphones catch fire on flight from Beijing to Melbourne, burning sleeping passenger's face and hands 
 
 Updated 
 
 A woman has suffered burns to her face and hands after her headphones caught fire and melted on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne, prompting warnings about battery-operated devices on aeroplanes. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has issued a warning after the woman, travelling from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19, was left with a burnt face, hand and burnt hair. The woman, whose identity has been concealed by the ATSB, said she was listening to music on a pair of battery-operated headphones when she fell asleep about two hours into the flight. "As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which issued a statement Wednesday as a warning to other passengers. "I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor," she said in a statement issued by the ATSB. "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." Flight attendants quickly poured a bucket of water on the headphones but the battery and cover were melted and stuck to the floor of the aircraft. Passengers 'coughing, choking' for rest of flight 
 
 The battery and cover melted and stuck to the floor of the plane, the ATSB said, and the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair filled the cabin for the rest of the flight. "People were coughing and choking the entire way home," the passenger told the ATSB, adding the cabin reeked of melted plastic and burned hair. Lithium ion batteries, commonly used in phones and handheld electronics because they charge quickly and are compact, use highly flammable liquid that can explode if a battery short circuits. Battery-powered devices should be stowed when not in use and spare batteries must be kept in carry-on baggage, not checked baggage, the warning said.
– A flight from Beijing to Melbourne, Australia, turned terrifying last month when a woman's headphones exploded midflight, burning her hands, face, and hair, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The unidentified woman had dozed off a couple of hours into the Feb. 19 flight while wearing the headphones, and per an Australian Transport Safety Bureau warning issued about the incident, she awoke to a loud bang and a burning sensation on her face. She was able to gather her wits, grab the headphones, and hurl them to the floor, where she says they were "sparking" and "had small amounts of fire." Flight attendants came running with a bucket of water to douse the device, part of which had melted and stuck to the floor of the plane. The ATSB release shows images of the woman's face and neck covered in black soot and with burns and blisters on her hand. "People were coughing and choking the entire way home," one passenger says about the cabin's acrid smell. An ATSB rep tells ABC Australia that although this is the first report in the country about a pair of headphones exploding, other devices—including phones and a personal air purifier—have gone up in smoke. An Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority rep tells CNN they'll be looking more into what happened to see if the headphones themselves were damaged, sparking the explosion, or if the blame falls on the batteries. In the meantime, the ATSB, which has declined to say what battery brand was involved, reminds travelers that extra device batteries should go in carry-on bags, not checked luggage, and that if a phone or other device falls between the seats, one should dig the device out or call for the crew's help before moving the seat. (Exploding e-cigs have also been an issue.)