Australialaisen Pel-Air-yhtiön Saab 340 syttyi tuleen ilmassa

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 228]

Australialaisen Rex Airlinesin tytäryhtiön Pel-Airin operoima Saab 340A, joka kuljetti rahtia, syttyi tuleen pinnalla 220, jolloin lentäjille tuli kiire divertata lähimmälle kentälle. 14 minuuttia myöhemmin (!) kone oli jo asematasolla missä palomiehet joutuivat purkamaan koneen rakenteita päästäkseen sammuttamaan palon, joka oli ilmeisesti lähtöisin akkujen johdotuksesta. Kone sai huomattavia vaurioita (ks. kuva ) mutta koneen täysi tuhoutuminen vältettiin eikä miehistölle tullut vammoja.

Lainaa

A Pel-Air Saab 340A freighter on behalf REX Regional Express, registration VH-KDK performing freight flight ZL-9982 from Wagga-Wagga,NS to Charleville,QL (Australia), was enroute at FL220 about 70nm northwest of Cobar,NS (Australia) when the crew received a smoke indication on board of the aircraft followed shortly by smoke appearing in the cabin and cockpit. The crew performed an emergency descent to 6000 feet, turned around and diverted to Cobar and landed on Cobar's runway 23 about 14 minutes (!) after leaving FL220. Emergency services needed to dismantle parts of the aircraft to extinguish the fire. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage however.

Fire and Rescue crews quickly got to work dismantling the plane to locate the source of the fire and extinguish. The batteries were quickly isolated as initially thought it was caused by an electrical harness.

After a second inspection inside the aircraft it was found to have significant damage to the flooring in which the fire had started. The floor was removed and checked for further signs of heat and determined safe, the aircraft was secured, ventilated and the site handed over to airport staff.

Excellent job by all involved, the quick action by firefighters and aircraft crew prevented total loss of the aircraft

http://avherald.com/h?article=5083cfbd&opt=0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel-Air