DAT AT72 at Copenhagen on Feb 21st 2019, smoke in cockpit

Last Update: July 4, 2019 / 15:02:30 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of DAT Danish Air Transport OY-RUR, ATR ATR-72-200 — DAT Danish Air Transport OY-RUR, ATR ATR-72-200 (Photo credit: Alec BHX/KKC / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 21, 2019

Classification
Report

Cause
Smoke in cockpit

Airline
DAT Danish Air Transport

Flight number
W2-1090

Departure
Copenhagen, Denmark

Destination
Karup, Denmark

Aircraft Registration
OY-RUR

Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200

ICAO Type Designator
AT72

A DAT Danish Air Transport Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-200, registration OY-RUR performing flight W2-1090 from Copenhagen to Karup (Denmark) with 26 passengers and 2 crew, was in the initial climb out of Copenhagen's runway 22R when at about 1000 feet AGL the crew sensed an odour on the flight deck the crew believed to be chemical or electrical in nature. The first officer observed it was misty around the captain's foot well. The flight crew donned their oxygen masks, levelled off at 4000 feet and returned to Copenhagen for a safe landing on Copenhagen's runway 30, assessed the situation and taxied the aircraft to the apron where the passengers disembarked normally.

Denmark's Havarikommissionen (HCL, accident investigation board) released their bulletin stating the occurrence was rated a serious incident. No evidence of any fire was detected on board.

Prior to departure the crew had reset the right hand air conditioning pack valve, which subseqently resumed normal operation.

The HCL described the technical analysis:

The cockpit floor was removed and the area below was inspected. There were no indications of short circuits or a fire having taken place in the area.

Inspections in the area forward of the rudder pedals, identified a small trace of electrical burnt smell from the R/H windshield heat controller. Initial visual inspection indicated, that a possible overheating of electrical components within the R/H windshield heating control box could be the source of the smell/smoke.

The control box was sent to an approved repair shop for inspection. The inspection stated the condition of the control box as “Dirty”. A subsequent bench test of the control box revealed No fault found.

The HCL analysed:

It has not been possible for the AIB to identify definitively the source of the perceived smoke or smell in the aircraft/cockpit.

The oil consumption log did not indicate any unusual oil consumption of either engine, but it is possible, following the oil refill that a small amount of excess or spilled engine oil produced the perceived smoke or smell vented through the air conditioning system.

Dirt in electrical components has previously produced smell and/or smoke when subjected to electrical power. The shop inspection of the R/H windshield heat controller stated presence of dirt, but the subsequent test did not produce any smoke or smell.

If dirt from the controller produced smoke, the amount was insufficient to trigger the ELEC SMOKE warning.

Given the subsequent 150 flights were uneventful, the AIB decided to close the safety investigation as no further evidence of smoke or smell appeared.