B77L, Shanghai Pudong China, 2020

B77L, Shanghai Pudong China, 2020

Summary

On 22 July 2020, a Boeing 777F main deck cargo fire warning was annunciated as the aircraft was preparing for departure from Shanghai. Fire service was requested and a MAYDAY declared to expedite this. All crew evacuated as the main deck cargo main door was being opened. Smoke appeared immediately and flames followed. The fire took almost three hours to extinguish and resulted in major damage. The investigation concluded that the fire had resulted from spontaneous ignition of a shipment of chlorine disinfection tablets loaded as undeclared dangerous goods, due a combination of high ambient humidity and temperature.

Description    

On 22 July 2020, a Boeing 777F (ET-ARH) with Ethiopian Airlines was about to depart on a scheduled cargo flight from Shanghai Pudong to Addis Ababa as ET3739 when a main deck cargo compartment fire warning occurred. Rescue and firefighting service (RFFS) was requested. Daytime visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed. When the required attendance was unexpectedly delayed, a MAYDAY call was made. Once the RFFS arrived, all five crew members were able to evacuate via air stairs. As they did so, the cargo main door was opened, smoke appeared, and four minutes later, flames were seen. The fire was eventually extinguished but by this time it had burnt a large hole at the centre of the rear fuselage crown. The fire also caused lesser damage to the crown further forward and extensive damage to the main cargo deck interior and the aft pressure bulkhead.

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