The sort of "fire" resulting from major electrical shorts and perhaps with added bottled oxygen isn't going to look like or behave like a pool of burning oil (or brandy in a hot frying pan). Take away the O2 with an extinguisher and the arc-welding effect continues unabated, sparks, vast amounts of heat, masses of noxious smoke and molten metal flying around and eventually after several seconds the extinguisher runs out of puff and you're back to square 1. No change. Taking away the electricity may work - eventually, but short of flooding the avionics bay with water extinguishers won't do much in the long term while the power flows. Burning molten metal can obtain oxygen from all sorts of sources, it doesn't need air. Think arc welding. Think chucking water on a magnesium fire.
The sort of "fire" obtained by an electrical arc is outside the scope of any extinguisher we carry on board, partly because it isn't actually a fire in the conventionally meant sense.
Could an ipad bring down an aircraft in 6 minutes? Why not?
As a purely speculative suggestion to illustrate the possibility one might imagine a scenario where the ipad or notebook in the side stowage brewed up, FO fled his seat, Capt dons mask so comms v. difficult. FO can't get at device due smoke, heat and molten metal spraying from the burning batteries. It's but a short step then to the crew oxygen mask lines and wiring behind the side panelling in which reside high current window heat cables and more...
How quickly might that then develop?
Although I am in no way suggesting it as a scenario in this incident my guess is that such a progression is perfectly possible.
Last edited by Wageslave; 22nd May 2016 at 15:59.