Boeing 767 QRH SMOKE OR FUMES OR FIRE- ELECTRICAL

[sky9]

I would appreciate the help and views of other Boeing 767 Pilots Engineers and Electrical Designers (?)
I work for a British operator whose own QRH closely follows, but is not identical to the Boeing version.

In the checklist SMOKE or FUMES or FIRE - ELECTRICAL

we are advised:

If smoke or fumes source can be determined
ELECTRICAL POWER (affected equipment) REMOVE

If smoke or fumes source cannot be determined:
UTILITY BUS SWITCHES OFF

If smoke or Fumes are persistent:
Accomplish the SMOKE OR FUMES REMOVAL checklist

Declare an emergency and plan to land at the nearest suitable airport.

CHECKLIST COMPLETE.

In normal circumstances this is all very reasonable, however the aircraft is ETOPS certified which poses the question: What should the pilot do if the electrical smoke or fumes start at 2hr 59 min from the nearest suitable airport?

Have other airlines addressed this problem with a more extensive and comprehensive QRH or are we all left to sort the problem out ourselves?

[sky9]

Well

No one fly the 767 then; or are you all FDorH?

[Roadtrip]

Utility Bus Switches - Off
Recirc Fan Switches - Off
Right Pack Control Sel - Off
Seat Belt & No Smoking Signs - On
Make PA
Video Proj CB - Pull
APU Bleed Air Switch - Off
Cockpit to Cabin Comm - Establish
Cockpit Door - Close

If on the gnd - FAs de-energize Power Ports
(Util Buses on disable Power Ports airborne)

Lead to O2Mask & Goggle don + Smoke and Fumes elimination checklists. Keep in mind that some fumes can be poisonous. Pax O2 won't do any good except introduce more O2 into the cabin.

Turn the airplane towards the nearest adequate concrete while you trouble shoot.

Of course the FAs would be scurrying around in their PBEs or walk-around bottles trying to see a source.

As a matter of course the first question I would ask myself- "Is the smell acrid or oily?" If oily, the problem may likely be a bad engine bearing seal venting oil into the A/C. Shut off bleeds one at a time to see if the smoke subsides.

Acrid smell indicate electrical generally. If the utility buses don't do the trick, then you're going to have to start shutting down other stuff - maybe go to HDG only or Bat only if necessary. Key is to get the airplane on the ground ASAP and use MAYDAY to ensure the undivided attention of the ground controllers.

[ 08 August 2001: Message edited by: Roadtrip ]

[Blacksheep]

The above checklist is pretty good but no-one is going to write a comprehensive and approved checklist that goes beyond what is already there.

Turning the utilities off kills domestic services in the cabin but that's about all. There's a cabin crew back there who are trained to deal with fires and they should be working on it. If you're convinced the source is electrical, my advice would be to turn off one generator to see if that stops the smoke, if not then the other. Since an electrical fire is a symptom of overload or short circuit, loss of particular services or equipment is a good clue as to the affected system(s) Ultimately, if you're CERTAIN that its an electrical fire but can't figure out where, start the APU while the battery (or batteries depending on configuration) is/are still fully charged, kill all electrics (except the "Hot Bus" which you can't kill anyway) and try to find the source. (Just in case its the hot bus that's responsible, its behind the F/O at the bottom of P61, but I reckon you'd have no problem sussing that out if it was on fire!). You've got at least 30 minutes of emergency power while you hunt for the fire. Remember there is access to the MEC through a hatch in the floor just inside door 1 Left. You may have to take up the floor covering but that will be lose - maintenance use it frequently. Once you know the source you can isolate the affected system and restore electrical power.

It seems to me that this is not a situation for both pilots to be sitting in their seats running through a checklist. The infinite permutations of where and what could be causing the smoke don't allow for that.

**********************************
Through difficulties to the cinema

[ 08 August 2001: Message edited by: Blacksheep ]

[sky9]

Thanks Roadtrip and Blacksheep

Seems as I thought, we are very much on our own. Your ideas are very much in line with my own although it would be nice if Boeing or the Safety Organisations would offer some guidance.

Keep the thoughts coming.

[wysiwyg]

Before I say anything I must say that I can only quote from the 757 manual rather than the 767 but I don't believe there to be a difference.

In the 75 QRH 'Smoke or fumes or fire electrical' differs from roadtrips explanation as we would only turn off the right pack if we had smoke or fumes from the air conditioning. In fact the smoke or fumes removal drill states:

WARNING: Do not turn an operating pack OFF. Selecting packs OFF will result in increased smoke concentrations.

regards
wizzy

[E. MORSE]

My first thought exactly , wisywig.

However isn't it so that by switching both recirc fans off , an outflow valve will open , hence decreasing the smoke concentrations already ?

Have to get the book out though, I know it is on the L-recirc fan with a reset only on the ground.

Another thing that leaves me puzzled is that :

Why is there no fire suppression in E/E bay ?


cheers

;)

[sky9]

wysiwyg & E.Morse

What you say is correct for smoke clearance on the 757 whose airconditioning system is significantly different to the 767.

I would agree that you shouldn't turn off the right pack unless it is airconditioning fumes from the right pack (passenger cabin). Strangely no meantion is made on our 757 airconditioning smoke checklist that the FD aircond.comes only from the left pack and is not recirculated air, a useful troubleshooting guide.

[ 08 August 2001: Message edited by: sky9 ]