In aviation, an in-flight fire is a type of aviation accident where an aircraft catches on fire in-flight. They are considered one of the most dangerous hazards in aviation, with a report from the British Civil Aviation Authority showing that after a fire on an aircraft starts, flight crews only have on average 17 minutes to land their aircraft before it becomes uncontrollable. [1] Between 1981 and 1990, approximately 20% of all fatalities on US airlines were caused by in-flight fires. [2]
Electrical fires are often the result of rogue sparks or the overheating of electronic components. If there are flammable materials around the source of the fire, an electrical fire can quickly spread. [7] Cockpit fires are often related to electrical fires as there many electrical components inside the cockpit that can produce sparks. If a cockpit fire is not extinguished in time, the smoke and fire on the control surfaces could make controlling the aircraft harder. [5]
Fires in the cabin can be caused by items that the passengers bring on board, like personal electronic devices, lithium batteries, cigarettes, and can be exacerbated by improper waste management. Electrical fires can also occur in the cabin area from wires that run through the cabin, like those for in-flight entertainment systems. [8]
Depending on what's inside the cargo hold of an aircraft, a cargo fire can quickly spread. For example, lithium batteries can undergo a process called thermal runaway, where the battery is able to serve as a source of heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent. [9] [10] Other hazardous cargo include items that can serve as an oxidizing agent, like oxygen bottles and cleaning products. [9]
Engines failures, mainly from loss of engine oil and uncontained engine failures, are the main cause of engine fires. [6] In these scenarios, the excess heat produced could ignite the jet fuel or jet fuel vapors inside the engine. [7]
In cases where a fire burns for a sufficient time, an event called a flashover can occur. A flashover is the near simultaneous ignition of any combustible material within an enclosed area. As more flammable gasses are released when materials burn and the temperature rises, the autoignition temperature is eventually reached, causing the everything in the enclosed space to ignite. [11] Temperatures of flashovers can reach 480–650 °C (900–1,200 °F), making them unsurvivable for more than a few seconds. [12]
Since 1985, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated more fire-resistant materials to be used in aircraft to lengthen the amount of time until a flashover occurs. [13] A kerosene burner test for aircraft seats is used to validate their resistance to the type of fuel fire most commonly encountered; developments in fire-resistant foam and fire-blocking layers have adding 40 to 60 seconds of time for passengers to escape the aircraft. [2] Since 1986, aircraft cargo compartments have been required to have more fire-resistant lining and in 1998, the compartments were to have fire detection and suppression systems. [14] Halon fire extinguishers, generally using Halon 1301, are used widely throughout the aviation industry because of their high performance to weight ratio. [15] Due to its ozone depleting nature, [15] aviation fire-suppression systems are one of the last remain permitted uses of halon. [16]
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| Event | Date | Aircraft | Site | Fatalities/Occupants | Type [lower-alpha 1] | Cause | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swissair Flight 306 | 4 September 1963 | Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III | Dürrenäsch, Aargau, Switzerland | 80/80 | Landing-gear fire | Overheated tires from excessive breaking | [17] |
| Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 | 23 June 1967 | BAC 1-11 204AF | Blossburg, Pennsylvania, United States | 34/34 | Tail section fire | Complete valve failure in APU spreading fire to the tail section | [18] |
| Interflug Flight 450 | 14 August 1972 | Ilyushin Il-62 | Königs Wusterhausen, Bezirk Potsdam, East Germany | 156/156 | Cargo fire | Hot-air tube leak | [19] [20] |
| Varig Flight 820 | 11 July 1973 | Boeing 707-320C | Near Orly Airport, Île-de-France, France | 123/134 | Cabin fire | Undetermined, potential electrical fault or lit cigarette | [21] |
| Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 | 26 November 1979 | Boeing 707-340C | Near Taif, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia | 156/156 | Cabin fire | Undermined, potential electrical fault or gasoline leak | [22] |
| Saudia Flight 163 | 19 August 1980 | Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar | Riyadh International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 301/301 | Cargo Fire | Undetermined | [23] |
| Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458 | 21 February 1982 | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | Scituate Reservoir, Rhode Island, United States | 1/12 | Cockpit fire | Ignition of the windshield washer/deicer fluid, exact ignition source undetermined | [24] |
| Air Canada Flight 797 | 2 June 1983 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Kentucky, United States | 23/46 | Cabin fire | Undetermined, potential electrical fault | [25] |
| Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940 | 31 March 1986 | Boeing 727-264 | Near Maravatío, Michoacán, Mexico | 167/167 | Landing-gear fire | Under-inflated and overheated tires being filled with air, chemical reaction | [26] |
| LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 | 9 May 1987 | Ilyushin Il-62 | Kabaty Woods, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland | 183/183 | Engine fire | Disintegration of engine bearings from improper maintenance | [27] |
| South African Airways Flight 295 | 28 November 1987 | Boeing 747-244BM Combi | Indian Ocean, 225 km NE of Flacq, Mauritius | 159/159 | Cargo fire | Disputed; undetermined (Official investigation), military fuel (alternate theories) | [28] [29] |
| Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 | 11 July 1991 | Douglas DC-8-61 | Near King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 261/261 | Landing-gear fire | Under-inflated and overheated tires bursting on takeoff | [30] |
| Zambia national football team plane crash | 27 April 1993 | de Havilland Canada DHC-5D Buffalo | Gulf of Guinea, near Akanda, Estuaire Province, Gabon | 30/30 | Engine fire | Engine defects, carbon contamination in gearbox | [31] |
| Baikal Airlines Flight 130 | 3 January 1994 | Tupolev Tu-154M | Mamony, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia | 124/124 [lower-alpha 2] | Engine fire | Uncontained engine failure from foreign object damage | [32] |
| ValuJet Flight 592 | 11 May 1996 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | Everglades, Florida, United States | 110/110 | Cargo fire | Improperly packaged oxygen generators activating, excessive heat | [33] |
| FedEx Express Flight 1406 | 5 September 1996 | McDonnell Douglas DC-10 | Stewart International Airport, New York City, United States | 0/5 | Cargo fire | Undetermined | [34] |
| Propair Flight 420 | 18 June 1998 | Fairchild Metroliner SA226 | Montréal–Mirabel International Airport, Quebec, Canada | 11/11 | Landing-gear fire | Overheated dragged tires | [35] |
| Swissair Flight 111 | 2 September 1998 | McDonnell Douglas MD-11 | 10 km SW of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada | 229/229 | Electrical fire | Flammable materials around in-flight entertainment wires | [36] |
| Air France Flight 4590 | 25 July 2000 | Concorde | Gonesse, Île-de-France, France | 109/109 [lower-alpha 3] | Fuel tank/Engine fire | Foreign object damage on landing gear | [37] |
| China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 | 7 May 2002 | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | Bohai Bay, near Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport, Liaoning, China | 112/112 | Cabin fire | Intentional gasoline fire, attempted insurance fraud | [38] |
| UPS Airlines Flight 6 | 3 September 2010 | Boeing 747-400F | Near Nad Al Sheba, Dubai | 2/2 | Cargo fire | Autoignition of cargo pallet with lithium batteries | [39] |
| Asiana Airlines Flight 991 | 28 July 2011 | Boeing 747-400F | East China Sea, 160 km (99 mi) W of Jeju City, Jeju Province, South Korea | 2/2 | Cargo fire | Undetermined | [40] |
| EgyptAir Flight 804 | 19 May 2016 | Airbus A320-232 | Mediterranean Sea, 280 km (170 mi) N of Alexandria | 66/66 | Cabin/Cockpit fire [lower-alpha 4] | Disputed; bombing (ECAA), leaking oxygen mask (BEA) | [41] |
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, by American Airlines.
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ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami to Atlanta in the United States. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the route crashed into the Florida Everglades about ten minutes after departing Miami as a result of a fire in the cargo compartment probably caused by mislabeled and improperly stored hazardous cargo. All 110 people on board were killed.
Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of aircraft and aviation infrastructure. The aviation industry is subject to significant regulation and oversight.
Saudia Arabian Airlines Flight 163 was a scheduled Saudia passenger flight departing from Quaid-e-Azam Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, bound for Kandara Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, via Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which caught fire after takeoff from Riyadh International Airport on 19 August 1980. Although the Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar made a successful emergency landing at Riyadh, the flight crew failed to perform an emergency evacuation of the airplane, leading to the deaths of all 287 passengers and 14 crew on board the aircraft from smoke inhalation.
Air Canada Flight 797 was an international passenger flight operating from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Montréal–Dorval International Airport, with an intermediate stop at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
American Airlines Flight 96 (AA96/AAL96) was a regular domestic flight operated by American Airlines from Los Angeles to New York via Detroit and Buffalo. On June 12, 1972, the left rear cargo door of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operating the flight blew open and broke off above Windsor, Ontario, after takeoff from Detroit, Michigan; the accident is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident, although according to the NTSB it is an accident, not an incident.
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Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 was a Hajj pilgrimage flight from Kano, Nigeria to Karachi, Pakistan with an intermediate stopover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Operated by Pakistan International Airlines, on 26 November 1979, the Boeing 707-340C serving the route crashed shortly after takeoff from Jeddah International Airport. All 156 people on board were killed.
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Federal Express Flight 1406 was an American domestic cargo flight from Memphis International Airport, Memphis, Tennessee, to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, that suffered an in-flight cargo fire over New York on September 5, 1996. The three crew members and two passengers on board successfully evacuated after an emergency landing at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. After the evacuation, the DC-10 was consumed by fire. After an extensive investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board couldn't determine what caused the fire. Nevertheless, the Federal Aviation Administration made recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458 was a scheduled United States passenger air commuter flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, with stopovers in Bridgeport, New Haven, and Groton, Connecticut. On February 21, 1982, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 operating the flight made a forced landing on the frozen Scituate Reservoir near Providence, Rhode Island, after a fire erupted in the cockpit and cabin due to leakage of flammable windshield washer/deicing fluid. One passenger was unable to escape the aircraft and died of smoke inhalation, and eight of the remaining nine passengers, as well as both crew members, received serious injuries from the fire and crash-landing.