Incident Overview
Shortly after liftoff, a passenger seated in row 18 reported seeing flames emanating from the overhead area on the right side of the airplane. The flight attendant responded by deploying a halon fire extinguisher to the reported area, then informed the flight deck of the situation. However, the flight attendant did not personally observe any flames. The flight crew conducted an emergency landing at the departure airport, which was completed without further incident.
Examination Findings
Post-incident examination of the overhead area around row 18 revealed that a cannon plug connector adjacent to the light assembly had shorted. Further inspection of the connector showed damage to the pins in the mating halves, which appeared to have occurred during a previous attempt to connect them. Subsequent research efforts aimed at replicating the connector failure mode were unsuccessful.
Maintenance Record Review
A review of the operator's maintenance records did not disclose whether any maintenance had been conducted in the area of the connector. The operator could not verify that the connector and affected areas had never been serviced during a previous stopover.