MD11 Cockpit smoke

[Irish Steve]

MD11 of World Airways diverted recently after a smoke on the flight deck problem.

Initial investigation is looking at the solenoid that controls the security door to the flight deck.

For more details, NTSB link here (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20050518X00630&key=1)

[Few Cloudy]

All sounds neat and tidy but smoke in the cockpit is anything but. It can quickly get out of hand and is never as harmless as it sounds in this report!

FC.

[apaddyinuk]

And we cant forget that it was smoke in the flight deck that initially raised the alarms to the flight crew on the Swissair MD-11 that went into the atlantic near Halifax. This incident must really have given the flight crew a scare!

[Anti-ice]

I think a scare is a great under-estimation , they must have been terrified... The Nat Geo 1 hr documentary on it is strong stuff.....

The plane hit the water at really speed and disintegrated into more than a million pieces :ugh:

It's reported the F/O was alive all the way down trying to do something to prevent the inevitable.........

Never,Ever underestimate fire - especially up there......

[Huck]

The captain's seat was impregnated with drops of molten metal. One must assume the first officer was enduring the same to his person.

The NG documentary was the most fascinating accident investigation story I have ever seen. Talented, dedicated investigators who did not give up. All of their evidence was dredged up in a scallop net, yet they pinpointed the fire to within a square yard of airframe.

[fastjet2k]

I vaguely recall a BA 744 which diverted with reports of smoke in the flight deck which I believe did turn out to be the locking system on the flight deck door. I believe it was a couple of years back, and I think the aircraft was en-route from the Far East into Heathrow... I think I remember them saying they were more than slightly concerned!

Either way, whatever the cause of the smoke in the MD11 it's good to hear they landed safely... Job jobbed

my recollections are very vague - please correct me if I'm wrong!

[offa]

I was operating a B747-300 many moons ago on a domestic flight of about 1 hour duration. Shortly after TOC (i.e. shortly before TOD) there was an acrid smell and much stinging of eyes. We went through all the prescribed items and managed to convince ourselves that the smoke had stopped - in retrospect I think we had just got used to the stinging and sense of smell deadened ....
In the meantime we had expedited descent into our destination airport and fire services waiting.
Passengers were fast tracked off the aircraft - not evacuated - and the engineers started hunting for the source. (By this time it was clear that the smoke was NOT a figment of the imagination!)
After some time we narrowed it down to aft pedestal and radios / INS removed which confirmed the area but no actual fire.
The first class ceiling panels were removed and revealed a seriously blackened / melted autothrottle motor and wiring ..... circuit breaker was still firmly in place!
It's not a nice feeling but what I do remember is how much I wanted it NOT to be a fire and how quickly my eyes and nose adjusted and helped me arrive at the conclusion that all was under control.

[The Nr Fairy]

fastjet2k:

I think you mean this AAIB report (http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_023893.pdf) - successful conclusion to the flight of a 744 with a door solenoid problem.

[fastjet2k]

The Nr Fairy,

That is the incident I was referring to, many thanks for providing that link, the report made interesting reading!

Cheers, FJ2k

[Shore Guy]

The Swissair 111 documentary, "The Crash of 111" is one of the most powerful aviation shows I have ever seen and recommend it highly.



VHS http://shop.wgbh.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=16468&storeId=11051&catalogId=10051&langId=-1

DVD http://shop.wgbh.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=16470&storeId=11051&catalogId=10051&langId=-1

Also available thru Amazon.com

[Few Cloudy]

SR 111 wasn't the only Swissair smoke case. They lost a Coronado due to smoke - caused by a terrorist bomb in the baggage compartment - leading to complete loss of visibility within the cockpit. The aircraft crashed with all souls.

Also there was an MD-80 which developed smoke in the cockpit as a result of a faulty Emer Pwr switch - here also the CB (main battery CB - 80 Amperes!) which was in the underfloor compartment did not pop.

The initial press reports seemed fairly routine but in fact the slight puffs of smoke rapidly developed into black clouds with irritating dust and debris in it. The only instrument items which could be made out were the self illuminating digital frequency setting windows.

The crew quickly decided to return to MUC - which was a tick closer than ZRH and managed a straight in approach to 08 with the greatest of difficulty - the non flying pilot using the (unreadable) checklist as a fan to clear some of the smoke. The Approach controler had to be asked for the ILS frequency and course as the charts could not be read.

On this occasion the aircraft was evacuated on the runway. Only then could the captain see, that the windshields and instruments were covered in a thick dust, as were his smoke goggles.

The smoke removal checklistlater had to be completely revised and thickly printed - on the rear cover. It could not be read and the crew had attempted to carry out the actions from memory. They thought that they had opened the cabin pressurisation wheel fully (they could only feel it) but in fact it was only about half open and the cabin never did depressurise to the point where they could have opened a window.

The Emer Pwr switch was in such a state, that in all probability a minute or two under power would have led to a fire. The RTB was a good call.