Smoke forces emergency landing

18 October, 2002

An Air France flight had to make an emergency landing in the polar bear capital of the world Thursday after smoke was reported on board.

The Boeing 777, carrying 181 passengers bound for Los Angeles from Paris, landed without incident, said Peter Hildebrand of the Transportation Safety Board.

Air France was making arrangements to transport the passengers to Winnipeg, Hildebrand said. There are few hotel rooms in Churchill now because it is high season for polar bear viewing.

Transportation Safety Board investigators will go to Churchill on Friday.

Air France flight lands in Churchill
Smoke reported on board

By SUN MEDIA

CHURCHILL, Man. -- An Air France flight from Paris to Los Angeles made an emergency landing in northern Manitoba yesterday after smoke was reported on board.

The Boeing 777, carrying 181 passengers, landed in Churchill without incident, said Peter Hildebrand of the Transportation Safety Board. Emergency crews and the local hospital had been alerted to be on standby before the plane touched down.

A pilot with Calm Air, who witnessed the landing, said it looked routine aside from the emergency crews standing by.

"They just came in and landed and parked on the runway," said Sveinn Arnbjornsson. "But that's a pretty big plane for Churchill."

The pilots realized something was amiss when warning messages sounded and they noticed the smoke.

"The pilot declared an emergency," said Susan McLennan of Transport Canada. "They reported smoke in the cockpit and landed safely at Churchill Airport shortly after 11 a.m."

Air France was forced to reroute its passengers to Winnipeg because there weren't sufficient hotel rooms available in Churchill, which is in the middle of high season for polar bear viewing and hunting.

An Air Canada 737 was chartered to take the passengers in two batches, one at 7 p.m. and the other four hours later.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board will go to Churchill today to inspect the aircraft.

Jumbo jet cockpit fire probed

From Winnipeg Free Press
10/25/2002

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has begun an investigation to determine why a fire broke out in the cockpit of an Air France jumbo jet, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Churchill last week. The TSB's Peter Hildebrand said the flight and voice recorders have been removed from the Boeing 777-200, which had been bound for Los Angeles from Paris when the emergency broke out.

Hildebrand said the captain's forward windshield and the controller box for windshield heat have also been removed from the plane.

"This plane has the latest flight recorders," he said. "We're getting good information from it. We have interviewed the crew as well."

Hildebrand said the flight crew first noticed smoke in the cockpit and then a small fire.

"They discharged fire extinguishers on it," he said. "The crew decided to dump fuel over Hudson Bay because they were over the landing weight. That would have been visible from the cabin."

The 181 passengers were flown to Winnipeg on Oct. 17 on two flights. No one was injured in the incident.

Hildebrand said that after the investigators inspected the plane and mechanics fixed it, the jet flew out of the northern port on Saturday.

"Hildebrand said the captain's forward windshield and the controller box for windshield heat have also been removed from the plane."

Hmm, that's interesting. Thanks for the update Chris. Hope we hear more regarding this investigation.

Barbara