Wiring blamed for jet fire alert

POOR wiring techniques have been blamed for a fire in the first-class section of a Virgin Atlantic jet forced to make an emergency landing in Shannon.

The fault which caused the fire led to an inspection of Virgin’s Airbus 340-300 aircraft and jumbo fleet and a similar problem was detected on a second Airbus.

A number of other A340-300 and A340-600 aircraft were also found to have cable routing problems, according to a preliminary report of the incident by the Department of Transport Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU).

The Virgin Airbus at the centre of the investigation, carrying 156 passengers and crew, was en route from London, Heathrow, to O’Hare airport in Chicago on January 11 last when cabin crew “reported a small fire in the bottom of the waste bin storage compartment of the bar unit in the upper (first) class area”.

The fire was located in a hole in the floor of the compartment. The crew noted that a damaged electric cable loom — which houses a number of wires — appeared to emanate from this hole.

The decision to divert the airbus was taken 140 nautical miles west of Galway after repeated attempts by flight crew to out the fire failed.

The report said the cockpit crew turned off the galley and commercial power circuits, but the fire and arcing (sparking) persisted. The captain declared an emergency and diverted to Shannon, where the aircraft landed safety some 30 minutes later.