The Smoke checklist on the A320 would have to be the most bloodey
unecessarily complicated one ever, with so many ifs and damn buts
and howevers its enough to confuse anyone. So I dont mind helping.
Read the top BOLD line where it says IF SMOKE SOURCE CANNOT BE
DETERMINED......ELECTRICAL SMOKE SUSPECTED.
The operative word is "OR".
The trick is to "compartmentalise" the checklist bearing in mind its a
AIRCON SMOKE checklist, a CAB EQUIPMENT SMOKE checklist and
a AVNCS SMOKE checklist all rolled into one. The EMER GEN procedure
is the last thing you want to do, but reluctantly might have to do. Its
cockpit smoke your looking to disappear - not particularley the smoke
warning itself.
Bear in mind the RAM AIR may clear the cockpit of smoke but the smoke
source may or may not be out. If the AVNCS SMOKE ecam stays on it
well might not be.
If your lucky enough to cop this on descent then keep the Ram Air on to
keep smoke out of the cockpit and leave the electrics fully on. Land and
evacuate. But enroute youll have to EMER GEN the bitch to survive.
This drill is a bugger to master and had no quarms telling the l'instructor
at Tooloose to repeat it in the sim till I got it right. Do the same next sim.
While on the subject, Scarebus goes to great lengths to print the checklist
IN LARGE BOLD LETTERS so you can read it in a smokefilled and/or dark
cockpit,
and then goes and prints the MSN numbers at the bottom left real real small.
Smart Frog thinking that.
