Cabin crew on a British Airways Boeing 747 struggled to fight a mid-air fire, a report out today reveals.
Staff on the flight to Heathrow from Dallas/Fort Worth with 274 passengers on board smelt an “acrid, electrical burning smell” about two hours from London.
Flames and smoke were then reported to be coming from an item of in-flight entertainment equipment located in a galley area at around 6.30 am on October 14 last year.
Members of the cabin crew tackled the fire with extinguishers but had difficulty due to continual re-ignition of the fire, according to an Air Accidents Investigation Board report out today.
“A third cabin crew member tried to discharge the first extinguisher but mishandled it, so another crew member took over,” the report said.
“Ultimately, five extinguishers were used because the fire appeared to re-ignite repeatedly. Eventually the cabin crew were able to report that the fire was out.
“It was subsequently considered that the unit had not been electrically isolated during the event and the operator has accordingly made several internal safety recommendations regarding both cabin and flight crew procedures and training,” the report said.