PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - 737 fire handle - reset in flight?
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Old 31st Mar 2009, 20:56
  #25 (permalink)  
Starbear
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
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mutley320

I believe the fire handle will trip the generator cb and gene control relay cb.
I think you may have misunderstood some of the terminology along the way. It is the Genrator Breaker (GB) and Generator Control Relay (GCR) which will be tripped or opened when fire handle is pulled not Circuit Breakers, altough admittedly the circuit will definitely be broken! Point is that GB and GCR will close on fire handle reset, all things being equal.

Another point is that it doesn't in fact matter even if the fire handle had been turned in addition to being pulled, it can still be reset and engine restarted (depending on original fault of course). Turning the handle simply discharges the extinguishant (freon gas) into the areas external to the core. i.e. around all of the accessories which may have caused the fire warning. The detection system does not normally monitor the core (certain exceptions monitor turbine overheats but this is not affected by extinguishers). So no harm is done to the engine core by firing the extinguisher. HOWEVER it is definitely not recommended to attempt to relight an engine which has been shutdown following a fire indication unless a greater danger exists.

Rubik 101 asks
Having pulled the fire handle, why would you want to push it in again?
See above caveat but I have always maintained that those poor guys in the Kegworth B737 incident would have lit a paraffin lamp if they could find one in the circmstances they found themselves in.
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