in tuscon, arizona, we track down michael layon, an electrical technician. >> i've been working electronics 17, and i joined the paratroopers and was assigned to an electronic communications battalion in the 2nd airborne. this is the first time i have been here since 2007. it's hard to believe that this is what's left of the 3-storey engineering structure. >> on a november morning in 2006, layon and dozens of others clocked in at secure plane, the charger. >> and i started a pot of coffee. i went into the lab and started unit. >> then it happened. >> there was a loud explosion. all of a sudden i was laying on the floor. there it was, coming out the side of this battery, it was about that big, and it wasn't like fire, it looked like a jet afterburner, like jet exhaust. . >> the prototype battery that exploded. >> i heard a loud series of metallic ravelling bangs. and just a jet of steam. the fire was literally rolling up the walls around me and on the ceiling. i could see it eating up all around me. i know that if that happened on board an aircraft, there would be no chance of survival. >> i