Gentlemen, as a non-flying, non-techie, ground-hugging ex-Supplier and before someone yells ’thread creep’ at me, can I make just one post on this very active thread?
A lot of comments have been made about fuel leaks and likely ignition sources with suggestions that any fuel fire may have been ignited in some way by the aircraft’s on-board systems.
Not so very long ago, on the ‘Discovery’ channel, there was a programme about the loss of large ships. One event featured, was that of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) which caught fire in heavy seas. The ship (the name of which escapes me) was fully laden at the time and suffered a structural failure when part of the bow became detached from the rest of the hull and caused a rupture in the forward tanks. As a result, the cargo started leaking into the sea. The only driver causing the fuel to escape was gravity - no high-pressure pumps, no electrics – and yet the escaping cargo caught fire. The video showed that the fire occurred after the ship, which had already lost part of the bow, had pitched into a large wave and what was left of the bow had risen clear of the water. The cause of this ignition was believed to be static electricity generated in some way by the ship’s movement through the water and not necessarily from a spark caused by broken plates grinding against each other.
Question – Is it possible that a similar phenomenon,i.e a static charge, which apparently caused the VLCC’s leaking cargo to ignite, could also apply to a leak in an aircraft? As I said, I’m a non-flying, non-techie ex-Supplier so please be gentle – but it’s just a thought.