NTSB · Safety Recommendation
Safety Recommendation A-07-097
Recommendation
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Provide clear guidance to operators of passenger and cargo aircraft operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 121, 135, and 91K on flight crew procedures for responding to evidence of a fire in the absence of a cockpit alert based on the guidance developed by the 2004 smoke, fire, and fumes industry initiative.
Safety Issue and Context
On February 7, 2006, about 2359 eastern standard time, United Parcel Service Company (UPS) flight 1307, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71F, N748UP, landed at its destination airport, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after a cargo smoke indication in the cockpit. The captain, first officer, and flight engineer evacuated the airplane after landing. The flight crewmembers sustained minor injuries, and the airplane and most of the cargo were destroyed by fire after landing. The scheduled cargo flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
Night visual conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Response History
February 4, 2009 · NTSB Correspondence · FAA
On May 27, 2008, the FAA issued Information for Operators (InFO) message 08034, Design and Content of Checklists for In-Flight Smoke, Fire and Fumes (SFF). This InFO directed checklist designers to a template for developing a non-alerted smoke, fire, and fumes checklist and to a description of the philosophy used to develop the template. Issuance of the InFO meets the intent of this recommendation; consequently, Safety Recommendation A-07-97 is classified CLOSED—ACCEPTABLE ACTION.
September 8, 2008 · Recipient Response · FAA
Letter Mail Controlled 9/18/2008 12:11:57 PM MC# 2080573: Robert A. Sturgell, Acting Administrator, FAA, 9/8/08 The Federal Aviation Administration shares the Board’s concern about the hazard presented by non-alerted smoke/fire and fume events and concurs that the development of flight crew procedures to respond to these events is one method to mitigate this hazard. The FAA also agrees that the philosophy and definitions document and a checklist template developed by the 2004 Smoke/Fire/Fumes Initiative may be helpful to aircraft manufacturers and individual operators developing their own smoke/fire/fume checklists.
The FAA sees value in the philosophy, the definitions document, and the checklist template that was developed by the industry and government, and it can assist in the wider distribution of the documents. On May 27, 2008 the FAA issued Information for Operators (InFO) 08034 (copy enclosed). This InFO directed checklist designers to a template for use in developing a non-alerted smoke, fire, and fumes checklist, and to a description of the philosophy used to develop the template. I believe that the FAA has effectively addressed this safety recommendation, and I consider our actions complete.