Thomas Cook A332 over Atlantic on Feb 6th 2019, smoke in cockpit

Last Update: September 12, 2019 / 17:05:39 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 6, 2019

Classification
Incident

Cause
Smoke in cockpit

Airline
Thomas Cook Airlines

Flight number
DE-2116

Departure
Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Destination
Cancun, Mexico

Aircraft Registration
G-TCCF

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

A Thomas Cook Airbus A330-200 on behalf of Condor, registration G-TCCF performing flight DE-2116 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Cancun (Mexico) with 332 people on board, was enroute at FL360 over the Atlantic Ocean about 880nm west of Shannon (Ireland) when the crew declared Mayday reporting smoke in the cockpit, turned around and diverted to Shannon. On approach the crew advised the smoke had dissipated, they needed to burn off fuel for about 5 more minutes and landed safely on runway 24 about 2 hours after turning around. Emergency services found no trace of fire, heat or smoke. Four cabin crew and a passenger were taken to a hospital and were treated for smoke inhalation.

The passengers were taken to hotels while maintenance is working to determine the source of the smoke.

The occurrence aircraft remained n the ground in Shannon for about 20.5 hours, then flew to Manchester,EN (UK), remained on the ground in Manchester for about 2 hours and departed for Cancun.

On Feb 7th 2019 the airline reported liquid was spilled onto electronic devices in the cockpit causing the smoke. The aircraft was repaired and departed for Manchester,EN (UK) for a change of cabin crew, then the aircraft will head off for Cancun again.

A passenger reported the crew announced 2 of 3 communication systems had failed causing them to divert to Shannon.

On Feb 8th 2019 the Irish AAIU reported that the aircraft was over international water at about 30 degrees West when the crew declared emergency reporting smoke in the cockpit. As the occurrence occurred over international waters, the UK AAIB will be responsible to rate the occurrence and decide whether an investigation will be opened, the AAIU however performed initial interviews with the crew and inspected the aircraft. The AAIU annotated that even if the investigation was within their responsibility, the known circumstances so far would not prompt the AAIU to open an investigation, the occurrence would not be rated serious incident or accident. The AAIU understood, that the hospitalisations were for precautionary purposes and were not directly related to the smoke event, no actual injuries were reported to the AAIU.

On Feb 18th 2019 the Canadian TSB reported the aircraft was in cruise flight when liquid was inadvertently spilled over the audio control panel (ACP) #1 causing all lights of the panel to illuminate. Initially only ACP #1 became hot, subsequently ACP #2 also became hot and began to emit a burning electrical odour. At about position 56°03'N/031°11'W smoke began to rise from the #1 ACP. The flight crew donned their oxygen masks and decided to divert to Shannon declaring Mayday via ACARS. During the diversion the crew dumped fuel and landed in Shannon without further incident. One passengers and four members of the crew were sent to local medical facilities for precautionary assessment and were subsequently released. The TSB listed 327 people without injuries and 5 minor injuries.

On Sep 12th 2019 the AAIB released their bulletin concluding the probable cause of the serious incident was:

A spillage of coffee on to the centre console led to the failure of ACP 1 and 2 resulting in communication difficulties for the flight crew. The resulting electrical burning smell and smoke in the cockpit necessitated a diversion to Shannon Airport.

The AAIB analysed:

The strip report indicated that the failure of ACP1 and the smoke and fumes were the result of electrical shorting caused by liquid contamination. The reason for the failure of ACP2 was unclear from the strip report.

The aircraft manufacturer recommends using the cup holder. The size of cups used by this operator on this route made it more difficult to take cups in and out of the cup holder than larger cups that have a bigger area at the top of the cup holder to grasp. This incompatibility generally discouraged use of the cup holder, despite the policy. In the A330, flight crew were provided with a table in front of them, and it was a natural place to put a drink momentarily. However, objects here are vulnerable to being knocked over because it is a fold out table in a small space. It is also a convenient place to put other things that are likely to be moved during flight, such as the pilot’s log. A lid properly secured on the top of the cup may have reduced the amount of liquid spilled on the centre console.