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Officials launch investigation into suspected fire on 747 jet
Sydney, Aug 11: Australia`s Transportation Safety Group has begun an investigation into a suspected small fire in the cargo hold of a British Airways 747 which forced the plane to return to Sydney minutes after it departed.
Sydney, Aug 11: Australia's Transportation Safety Group has begun an investigation into a suspected small fire in the cargo hold of a British Airways 747 which forced the
plane to return to Sydney minutes after it departed.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said today it had begun the inquiry after the jet, bound for London via Singapore, was forced to turn back to Sydney less than 10 minutes after takeoff yesterday. There were 249 passengers and 20 flight crew on board flight 16 when the pilot declared a mayday and turned the plane around, landing without incident at 4:24 pm (1154 IST on Saturday). No one was injured.
Emergency services crews closed all runways to other traffic and called in police, fire brigade and ambulance services to back up the airport's response team. Ten fire trucks and up to 25 ambulances were at the airport when the plane touched down. British Airways released a statement refusing to confirm that a fire had taken place, only saying the plane returned to Sydney ``purely as a precaution.''
At least three passengers said they saw smoke or smell and something burning. Fire officers reported finding a scorch mark in the plane's cargo hold from a suspected electrical fire.
``Fire crews say there was a small electrical wiring fire in the forward cargo hold which was extinguished by the on-board extinguisher system,'' an airport spokesman said on the customary condition of anonymity. ``There's about a meter-square of fire damage.''
Bureau Report
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said today it had begun the inquiry after the jet, bound for London via Singapore, was forced to turn back to Sydney less than 10 minutes after takeoff yesterday. There were 249 passengers and 20 flight crew on board flight 16 when the pilot declared a mayday and turned the plane around, landing without incident at 4:24 pm (1154 IST on Saturday). No one was injured.
Emergency services crews closed all runways to other traffic and called in police, fire brigade and ambulance services to back up the airport's response team. Ten fire trucks and up to 25 ambulances were at the airport when the plane touched down. British Airways released a statement refusing to confirm that a fire had taken place, only saying the plane returned to Sydney ``purely as a precaution.''
At least three passengers said they saw smoke or smell and something burning. Fire officers reported finding a scorch mark in the plane's cargo hold from a suspected electrical fire.
``Fire crews say there was a small electrical wiring fire in the forward cargo hold which was extinguished by the on-board extinguisher system,'' an airport spokesman said on the customary condition of anonymity. ``There's about a meter-square of fire damage.''
Bureau Report