Flydubai B738 near Kiev on Apr 19th 2014, IFE could not resist smoking

Last Update: December 2, 2014 / 17:16:49 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 19, 2014

Classification
Report

Airline
Flydubai

Flight number
FZ-727

Departure
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Destination
Kiev Zhuliany, Ukraine

Aircraft Registration
A6-FEK

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

A Flydubai Boeing 737-800, registration A6-FEK performing flight FZ-727 from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to Kiev Zhuliany (Ukraine) with 59 passengers and 7 crew, was descending towards Kiev at about 15000 feet, when cabin crew noticed smoke rose from passenger seat 9A. One cabin crew relocated the passengers in seats 9A-C, another cabin crew fetched a fire extinguisher and a smoke hood and discharged the fire extinguisher onto the seat, the power to the inflight entertainment system was turned off. In the meantime the cabin supervisor informed the flight deck about increasing smoke and heavy fumes in the cabin indicating an electrical fire, the flight crew declared emergency, declined an offer to divert to Kiev's main airport Borispol Airport and discussed whether they should perform a straight in landing to runway 26 though winds favoured runway 08. A second fire extinguisher was fetched, however not discharged anymore as cabin crew noticed the smoke had decreased and was dissipating. The flight crew at the same time was working the fire, smoke, fumes checklist, upon completing the checklist cabin crew informed the flight deck that the smoke had ceased and dissipated. The flight crew continued for a normal safe landing on Zhuliany's runway 08.

The United Arab Emirates GCAA released their final report concluding the probable causes of the incident were:

The Air Accident Investigation Sector (AAIS) determines that the causes of the smoke that emitted from the visual display unit VDU of seat 9A were:

- Gasses emitted from the PCB of the VDU backlight inverter board.

- Heat caused by increased current demand after the break in the secondary coil of the transformer followed by the failure of the primary side transistor components.

- The failure of the fuse to open quickly and isolate the circuit due to its inappropriate rating related to the VDU application and possibly other reasons not determined by the Investigation.

Contributing Factors to the Incident

Contributing factor to the Incident was that the material of the fuse might have helped in transferring heat by 'conduction' between the fuse and the PCB of the backlight inverter board.

The GCAA reported that cabin crew already identified the smoke was originating from the visual display unit of the inflight entertainment system for seat 9A. The system was removed after the flight and heat damage was found inside consistent with the inverter printed circuit board (PCB) being heated by heat transfer from the fuse and emitting smoke as result. The current demand had increased due to a failure of the secondary winding of the transformer of the VDU's power supply, the fuse however did not trip because its current rating was substantially higher than needed for VDU operation.

The GCAA analysed that the responses by cabin crew, flight crew as well as the aerodrome had been in line with the required procedures.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 19, 2014

Classification
Report

Airline
Flydubai

Flight number
FZ-727

Departure
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Destination
Kiev Zhuliany, Ukraine

Aircraft Registration
A6-FEK

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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