In-Flight Fire

[bafanguy]

There may have been other places to put this but it's such a good article, I thought I'd put it here. Worth your time to read:

https://airlinesafety.blog/2012/02/02/inflight-fire/

[Piltdown Man]

That was a really interesting article. It certainly reinforces my company's training and the need for me to constantly revise my memory items - the actions and calls that may be required with minimal notice at a time of high stress. Thank you for posting.

PM

[pineteam]

Very interesting indeed. Thank you.
At some point they said « if you smell fumes, you do not have to wait for visual confirmation or any warning systems. » I do agree but not for all situations. Let me explain below and tell me your thaughts if you wish.

I had a discussion with a colleague friend of mine as recently one of our crew did an immediate return shortly after departure as the cabin crew reported strong burning smell in the cabin. Now my friend will say he did the right things but I disagree as it was written black and white in the techlog: « expect soap burning smell due to low compressor wash ». For him, it does not matter he made the right decision as burning smell is no joke. But I tend to disagree in that particular case as the crew has been warned in the techlog that unusual smell might happen and it should be just of questions of minutes that the bad smell would disappear.
I’m not throwing rocks to my poor fellow pilots who had to deal with this unusual situation. Just would like to hear some opinions. Did you have some similar case due to engines wash?

[megan]

Did you have some similar case due to engines washWith helos we used to turn on heater (bleed air) to help get rid of smell of the turco (used in the wash) during the drying run immediately after the wash. You chaps/lasses do a drying run following the wash? Pressurisation would complicate things I guess.

[Escape Path]

Great article. Out of all the possible scenarios on an aircraft, a fire is the one I dread the most and reading little gems like these gives me more tools and tips should I ever be in such scenario (knock on wood). Thanks for posting

[Basil]

Recollect, some years ago, a colleague had smoke in the cabin.
He declared Mayday and commenced an immediate diversion to the nearest airport.
On the descent, the smoke cleared but he continued with the diversion and got it on the ground.

I was astonished to hear comment from a couple of colleagues that, when the smoke cleared, they thought he should have continued to destination.
In my opinion, he was absolutely correct to continue the emergency diversion.

[FE Hoppy]

https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/17.pdf

Much better to read the source.

[pineteam]

With helos we used to turn on heater (bleed air) to help get rid of smell of the turco (used in the wash) during the drying run immediately after the wash. You chaps/lasses do a drying run following the wash? Pressurisation would complicate things I guess.

I did not have any concrete feedbacks yet from that event but some rumors said that maintenance might have missed some steps of the procedure resulting in that very strong smell.

[MurphyWasRight]

was written black and white in the techlog: « expect soap burning smell due to low compressor wash ». For him, it does not matter he made the right decision as burning smell is no joke. But I tend to disagree in that particular case as the crew has been warned in the techlog that unusual smell might happen and it should be just of questions of minutes that the bad smell would disappear.

The flip side of this of course is that it could also be one hole in the swiss cheese, from the hypothetical report:

The pilots initially ignored a burning smell from wiring damaged by recent maintenance because of note to expect a burning smell in tech log.


I would totally agree that that the above is unlikely but then again so are most accidents.

[SoFarFromHome]

Great article,

At the end of a departure brief many moons ago I was asked if I had any questions. Discussed with the captain on this rare day we needed a TO ALT what we would do if we had a fire on departure and couldn't put it out.

He wanted to fly to the best alternate a good 20 minutes away. I wanted to turn around, fly the ILS, below minima and land.

It was just below CAT1 at a CAT1 airport but I couldn't fathom a 20 minute dash when all the reading I had done, suggested as does this report, that 20 minutes is about the maximum you have to play with.

It posed an interesting CRM issue for me as a newish FO.

:ooh:

[Highway1]

With helos we used to turn on heater (bleed air) to help get rid of smell of the turco (used in the wash) during the drying run immediately after the wash. You chaps/lasses do a drying run following the wash? Pressurisation would complicate things I guess.

I'm struggling to think of an engine type that didn't require an engine run after a wash - certainly GE90 does and CF6 used to have the wash done with the engine running.