Interesting point there C.M.
May I assume that you've probably suffered the consequences of one of these ? They're not unusual , especially if you've got a hold full of perishable goods.
I guess it's all down to co. SOP's though isn't it . And if your ECAM msg specifies certain actions , then it's a brave man who decides to rely on his knowledge , experience and common-sense in the event of a smoke warning , especially when the 20/20 hindsight club start to pick the bones out of it later.
The main consolation in all this is that most cargo hold smoke detections are spurious , but that's easy for me to say from a nice warm room.
I had a similar occurrence in Lagos a few years back : Crew got off and I was just perusing the T/L when,,ding-ding-ding-ding,,,,accompanied by ECAM msg . "Smoke Fwd Hold , Discharge Agent". When I peered out of the DV window , even in the the dark you could see the air was thick with diesel fumes from the loaders tug. Once they'd finished , the msg went .
Easy on the ground to deal with , but I think that in the air , one just has to assume a 'worst case scenario'.
Frustrating as it is...
