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 (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.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by Dannyboy39

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 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]

Originally Posted by John Marsh

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]

Originally Posted by windy1

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)

Twitter

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

I guess we will have to wait for the report... but oil fire seems likely given the smoke ingestion and post landing fire.