Originally Posted by
skadi
This was a HEMS machine so no baggage compartment. No problem, especially for the CabinCrew, to look aft through the whole cabin. As seen on the videos the fire took place in the aft section of engine bay or even battery/Aircondition compartment. Fire is seen on both sides of the fuselage on different videos.
skadi
A few posts have discussed location of the fire. It struck me looking at the video clips that fire seemed to extend down to well below the height of the underside of the tailboom, perhaps to the clamshell doors? Two extracts from video here, showing both sides prior to the tailboom failure:
Here are a few images from the internet showing the engine bay and how, if there was a fuel line failure, fuel could flow to quite low down in that bay, and probably aft once it caught hold. But fire seemed to have spread beyond that area if indeed that was the origin:
Sadly, the footage is a demonstration that lightweight structures desirable for efficient rotorcraft don't equate to prolonged fire resistance.