Exploding headphone battery burns woman during flight

Actually, that would be a correct response, following procedure. The point being, that this was most likely a battery fire, not an electrical fire.
If there are any flames present, those would normally first be extinguished using a Halon extinguisher. Next, if required, the battery or device should be doused with water. The water serves to cool the battery sufficiently to stop the thermal runaway.
The next step would be to place the device in a metal bar box, and submerge it in more water.
Thanks. I never knew that. I'm no firefighter but putting out an electrical fire with water seemed a bit obtuse to me.
 
Most people don't know how to take care of their batteries. This is the problem. I'm sure those headphones were probably overcharged, left in extreme temperatures, got wet. Maybe even swollen. Who knows. There's so many factors that can cause those things to malfunction and cause a bad day.
Modern day chargers SHOULD be constructed so that they do not overcharge a battery no matter how long you leave them in the charger. In other words, it is the charger that, if constructed improperly, will overcharge a battery, and therefore, the charger's fault that the battery is over charged. The electronics industry has known for many, many, many years how to construct chargers that do not overcharge batteries. It is well-known in the electronics industry that it is detrimental, to say the least, to overcharge a battery. If the explosion was caused by the battery being overcharged, it is the charger that is at fault. No human could possibly tell, without sophisticated electronics, the state of charge of any battery, and if such human-monitoring were necessary, the battery would never sell and would probably never be allowed on the market due to safety issues - I.e., it would never pass UL, or other similar types of, testing.

Now you have to consider everything you have that uses batteries! With the potential hazards from Lithium-Ion batteries, it is a wonder that they are not being removed from the market until they can be made safer! 60 minutes showed the solution a few weeks ago ..... why on earth is it not being implemented?!?!?!
This is the reason consumer protection laws are needed. There are those out there that will put sh!t on the market because they need to pay for the materials used in the manufacture of those products and not lose any money while ensuring that they make a profit. The only way to stop such jerks from putting sh!t on the market is to make the cost of putting sh!t on the market too expensive for them.

As I see it, the only way of making the cost of putting sh!t on the market prohibitively expensive is to sue companies that do so - I.e., either consumer law suits, or law suits from authorities. With the current DC political climate aimed at reducing the already overburdening regulations, you can bet that lawsuits will not come at the Federal level. They might come from those states that still have some understanding of corruption and its consequences, or from consumers who find lawyers that have $$$ for eyes. I'd be willing to bet that if this happened to a govt official, they would be all over this like flies on sh!t.
 
Most people don't know how to take care of their batteries. This is the problem. I'm sure those headphones were probably overcharged, left in extreme temperatures, got wet. Maybe even swollen. Who knows. There's so many factors that can cause those things to malfunction and cause a bad day.
Shouldn't have to "take care" of batteries.
 
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