Apple says Beats headphones exploded due to third-party battery

Company has refused to compensate the woman who suffered injuries after her Beats headphones caught fire mid flight

Apple has refused to compensate the woman who suffered burns to her face and hands after her Beats headphones caught fire during a flight to Australia saying third-party batteries were at fault.

"Our investigation indicated the issue was caused by a third-party battery," said an Apple representative in a statement issued by the woman's lawyers, Australian news website Adelaide Now reported.



The woman, who wishes not to be identified, was listening to music on her own battery-operated Beats headphones as she dozed off on the flight from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19.



“As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face,” she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which investigated the incident.

“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.

Flight attendants rushed to help and poured a bucket of water on the headphones, but the battery and its cover were both melted and stuck to the floor.

Pictures showed the woman with a blackened face and neck and blisters on her hands, with passengers having to endure the smell of melted plastic, burnt electronics and burnt hair for the remainder of the flight.



The woman claimed she had bought the headphones duty-free in 2014 and the AAA batteries in Australia.

Though she suffered burn injuries on her face and hands, she was only seeking reimbursement to replace her headphones and items of clothing that were damaged during the incident.

Disappointed with the Apple’s decision, the woman in a statement said, “The headphones don't work without batteries, yet nowhere on the headphones - or their packaging - did it specify which brand of batteries should be used."