Air China flight CA403 declares emergency

[dflyer]

An Air China flight CA403 between Chengdu & Singapore declared an emergency and landed safely at Changi International

[Capt Fathom]

And……………What happened?

[John Marsh]

A bit more detail, from Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-10/air-china-flight-landed-in-singapore-after-detecting-smoke) (paywall):
Air China Flight 403 landed in Singapore after encountering smoke in the forward cargo hold and lavatory, according to a post by the city-state’s Changi Airport.

All passengers and crew were safely evacuated, and the fire in the left engine has been put out.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/900x474/ca403_engine_fire_larger_2c1a96450001ec63732428d8f1e0e8738db 87e41.jpg

[atakacs]

Presumably the smoke was from the engine fire? Is it common occurrence for engine fire smoke to enter the cabin 🤔?

[CHESLEY]

PW Engine again. High VIB, ENG FAIL. LEAP is much better.

[Locked door]

If smoke is generated in the engine upstream of the bleed location it will enter the cabin via the aircon system until the bleed is switched off. That’s one of the actions of the Eng fire push button.

[Chernobyl]

Longtime SLF lurker here, but a question for the pros: is using the left overwing slide (as evidenced by the photo) a good plan and/or SOP when there's suspected/confirmed fire in #1? Shouldn't they have communicated to the cabin crew to keep that door closed?

[Mogwi]

Yes! And part of the drill is to check outside the door for hazards before opening. CC might not have been able to see the fire though.

Mog

[Dannyboy39]

Yes! And part of the drill is to check outside the door for hazards before opening. CC might not have been able to see the fire though.

Mog
And for this reason, I have no idea why in America it’s still standard practice for passengers to have their window blinds down in critical phases of flight.

[FUMR]

And for this reason, I have no idea why in America it’s still standard practice for passengers to have their window blinds down in critical phases of flight.

I think you mean up.

[John Marsh]

Evacuation and cabin smoke footage Twitter
Channel News Asia reports (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/changi-airport-runway-temporarily- closed-air-china-flight-catches-fire-3759791) 9 minor injuries from smoke inhalation and evacuation.

Regarding the left side evacuation: is there no cockpit indication of persistent engine fire? I'm presuming the extinguishers were discharged.

[tdracer]

Regarding the left side evacuation: is there no cockpit indication of persistent engine fire? I'm presuming the extinguishers were discharged.

Engine fire detection is for fire in the nacelle undercowl area - outside the engine flowpath. That fire appears to be in the flowpath - which normally contains fire...

[dixi188]

I don't know the A320 engines but I think the fire in the exhaust may be due to the fuel purge system operating when all electrical power is turned off.
I seem to remember this happening on some engines after emergency shut down during engine ground runs.

[Jack D]

FFS …! Amateur night taken to a whole new level

[Orange future]

Nice to see someone actually evacuate a burning aircraft in WSSS.....

[windy1]

Where is the Changi fire equipment ?

[atakacs]

FFS …! Amateur night taken to a whole new level
Specifics ?
Nice to see someone actually evacuate a burning aircraft in WSSS.....
Singapore Airlines Flight 368 ?
Where is the Changi fire equipment ?
I'd guess on their way to the scene. But admittedly from the footage they took their sweet time to arrive...

[kristofera]

Where is the Changi fire equipment ?
There is some footage showing them driving past while the pax were evacuating. Perhaps they couldn't get close until the passengers and their bags were out of the way...? (See video #4 in the tweet below)


https://twitter.com/FATIIIAviation/status/1700805497417601094

[dixi188]

I don't understand why there is fire in the jet pipe, if the fuel is shut off the fire goes out, unless it's oil from a failed rear bearing.

[atakacs]

I don't understand why there is fire in the jet pipe, if the fuel is shut off the fire goes out, unless it's oil from a failed rear bearing.
I guess we will have to wait for the report... but oil fire seems likely given the smoke ingestion and post landing fire.

[Lord Bracken]

There is some footage showing them driving past while the pax were evacuating. Perhaps they couldn't get close until the passengers and their bags were out of the way...? (See video #4 in the tweet below)


https://twitter.com/FATIIIAviation/status/1700805497417601094

Nice to see some selfish **** threw his heavy metal carryon down the slide right after a child.

[krismiler]

Longtime SLF lurker here, but a question for the pros: is using the left overwing slide (as evidenced by the photo) a good plan and/or SOP when there's suspected/confirmed fire in #1? Shouldn't they have communicated to the cabin crew to keep that door closed?

Indications may have been that the fire was extinguished and from the amount of flames visible in the picture, the cabin crew wouldn’t have noticed anything when making their assessment regarding the evacuation.

When I started on the A320, the evacuation command could be given from the flight deck in the form of left or right if required. Now it’s a cabin crew call after they check the outside conditions. Given the limited visibility from the crew station, it might be a good idea to review this.

[Boeingdriver999]

CA403 set squawk 7700 at 0802Z at 14,000ft with a touchdown at 0814Z. They either had an engine fire warning or didn't. And if they DID; they shut down the engine down or didn't. And if they didn't - did the fire warning go out?

Because that would be the second time an engine fire warning went out erroneously on an A320NEO with P&W110G engines this season...

Marabu A320NEO P&W1100G Engine Fire (https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/653892-marabu-320-neo-engine-fire-damage.html?highlight=marabu)

[atakacs]

You might be onto something.
Will be an interesting report to read.

[RubberDogPoop]

I think you mean up.
Nope. He meant down.

[hans brinker]

Nope. He meant down.

Several US airlines have hot weather procedures to lower all the shades at the gate. Several also will have FAs go through the cabin before takeoff and landing ensuring the shades are up.