Engine & Electrical Fire Procedure

[ted202]

I am curious to know what the procedure(s) would be if there was a:

—> engine fire in start-up
—> engine fire in the air
—> electrical fire in the air

thanks!

[Pilot DAR]

The source of this information will always be the flight manual for the plane, as procedures will differ from type to type a little.

In very general: On the ground, for a piston engine carburettor fire, keep cranking to try to pull the fire through, then shut down for inspection and turn off the fuel. In flight, keep flying the plane and turn off the fuel, and electrical as appropriate.

[BEagle]

—> engine fire in start-up = fuel off, switches off, f**k off
—> engine fire in the air = as per POH
—> electrical fire in the air = Alt OFF, Batt OFF - continue as if you were flying a Tiger Moth.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Do not misdiagnose an electrical fire as an engine fire, shut down the engine unnecessarily, crash into houses, and die. As has happened.

Which accident report was the first thing that leapt to my mind once when I smelled burning on the climb out.

So I did nothing at all. Except think about it. For a long long loooong time - whole seconds, and then more whole seconds.

Then I turned off the cabin heat and the burning smell went away. I had eventually managed to work that it must have been the first time that autumn anyone had put the cabin heat on, so there was some dust burning off.

Now, that sounds like a trivial story, but it isn't. If I'd thought "engine fire" and shut down the engine I probably wouldn't be here now (there aren't many places to go off 23 at Cambridge).

And I don't recall seeing that one in an emergency procedures checklist. Which may, of course, be because I haven't read one recently and have forgotten it.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Pick an aeroplane type you're interested in, use google to find the flight manual - the drills for all of these failures will be in there, along with many others.

For example...

http://tmg-ato.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cessna172NPOH.pdf

Section 3. It's all there, and clear enough.

G