The vaping forums are full of modifications to lithium ion batteries in order to bypass protection mechanisms and maximise current flow through the device. More current equals more power to the heating element and a denser smoke or vapour experience.
Applying what is effectively a short circuit to an unprotected lithium ion battery is a well known method for destroying such a battery as evidenced by numerous YouTube videos.
So this battery was either modified or an unprotected design being subjected to abuse by being required to supply current in excess of the design limits.
The article doesn't mention whether the victim was using a commercially available unmodified e-cigarette or one of the vaping devices that use 18650 lithium ion batteries. The 18650 batteries certainly have the power concentration to cause a vehicle fire. The smaller semi-disposable/disposable e-cigarettes with relatively tiny batteries are unlikely to heat up to that extent.
The fact that the victim threw the device onto the passenger seat rather than out the window tends to indicate that it was perhaps somewhat more valuable to her than a bog standard e-cigarette.
I would hope that airport security would remove such a device from a passenger intending to board an aircraft.