A388, en-route, north east of Singapore, 2011

A388, en-route, north east of Singapore, 2011

Summary

On 31 January 2011, a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 was in the cruise when there was sudden loud noise and signs of associated electrical smoke and potential burning in a toilet compartment with a corresponding ECAM smoke alert. After a fire extinguisher had been discharged into the apparent source, there were no further signs of fire or smoke. Subsequent investigation found signs of burning below the toilet floor and it was concluded that excessive current caused by a short circuit which had resulted from a degraded cable had been the likely cause, with over current protection limiting the damage caused by overheating.

Description

On 31 January 2011, an Airbus A380-800 being operated by Singapore Airlines on a scheduled passenger service from Hong Kong to Singapore and nearing the end of the cruise at night was suddenly subject to a loud noise and signs of possible fire in one of the toilet compartments accompanied by a corresponding Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) Smoke alert for the same compartment. A fire extinguisher was discharged into the apparent source area and the location carefully monitored but no further signs of combustion were evident and the flight to destination was completed. The flight was being used as a Line Check with the Check Captain occupying one of the Supernumerary crew seats.

Investigation

The Incident occurred in international waters and the Investigation was conducted by the Singapore Air Accident Investigation Bureau. It was determined that there was no DFDR information that was relevant to the Investigation and noted that the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) record of the period in which the incident occurred had been over-written.

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