A Review of Smoke and Potential In-flight Fire Events in 1999

Data from 1999 regarding events involving smoke, fumes, and in-flight fire was analyzed. It suggests that these events are sometimes unreported or under-reported. Many of these events resulted in unscheduled landings. Fire or high temperature events frequently occur in areas of the aircraft that present a high hazard potential and indicates that current designs and procedures do not give the crew the ability to locate the source of the smoke. There is a need for further effort in the areas of incident data collection, improved prevention efforts, and means to quickly detect and isolate the ignition sources involved.