From a pilots perspective you can deal with more or less any emergency thrown at you but one you have very little control over is a fire on board. With many years experience behind me now, it still gets the blood flowing in the simulator when we practise for such an event. It is truly frightening when the smoke is simulated by dry ice, you are on oxygen and you struggle to see your instuments due to the poor visibility. It is an event I really hope I never have to deal with in reality.
There have been many commercial accidents over the years associated with fires. This discussion is about smoking. It dosen't matter how it starts. The reality is that if you don't put it out quickly you are in real trouble. Flying across the Atlantic can put you within two hours of land. For those flying to holiday destinations in the Canary Islands you are sometimes an hour from land depending on the routing of the flight when travelling from the UK or Ireland. If you don't put a fire out it can be a race for survival. Have a listen to the following actual recording between Swiss Air Flight 111 and Air Traffic control when a fire broke out on board in 1998. It took 12 minutes from the time they discovered smoke on board to their eventual crash killing 229 people. The aircraft was overweight for landing and had to attempt to dump fuel before landing as per their procedures. However they failed to get the opportunity to do so.
It's something people should consider when they feel the urge to light up.
SWISSAIR CRASH Recording Part 1
SWISSAIR CRASH Recording Part 2