What happened
On 17 October 2002, an Air France Boeing 777-228ER en route from Paris to Los Angeles experienced an in-flight fire. While cruising at flight level 360, cabin crew reported an unusual odor, prompting the captain to inspect the cabin. Shortly after the captain left the cockpit, a fire ignited at the lower left corner of the forward cockpit windshield.
A relief first officer discovered the flames and utilized a handheld Halon extinguisher to suppress the fire. Although the fire was temporarily extinguished, it recurred after the first extinguisher was exhausted, requiring a second discharge to fully control the blaze. The fire caused two large cracks to develop in the windshield.
The crew decided to divert the aircraft to Churchill, Manitoba, as it was the most suitable available airport for an emergency landing. The aircraft landed on a snow-covered runway at Churchill. Following the landing, passengers were evacuated via the right front emergency slide. There were no injuries among the 172 passengers or 17 crew members.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the origin of the fire and the maintenance history of the aircraft's windshield heating system. Investigators examined the electrical terminal blocks and the physical state of the windshield components.
It was determined that the fire originated at an electrical terminal block on the captain's left forward windshield. The investigation also looked into a previous incident involving the same aircraft, where a plastic cap on a window heat power terminal had melted. At the time of the 2002 fire, maintenance records showed a pending work instruction to replace a windshield electrical power connector, which had been deferred.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that the airline's inventory system incorrectly indicated that necessary replacement parts were unavailable, even though they were physically in stock. This error prevented the completion of the previously deferred maintenance task.
Findings
- The fire was caused by an electrical terminal block failure at the captain's left forward windshield.
- A maintenance task to replace the windshield electrical power connector remained uncompleted because the operator's inventory system erroneously showed the required parts as unavailable.
- The aircraft's window heat system had experienced a previous overheating issue involving a melting polyethylene cap.
- The crew's ability to use certain airport data was limited by the information available in the emergency airfields supplement.