Incident Overview
On 5 January 2000 at 1409 UTC, a Jetstream 4100 (registration G-MAJA) had just taxied to its stand at Manchester International Airport after a domestic flight. The crew had completed their shutdown checks. A ground power unit (GPU) was positioned close to the right side of the aircraft's nose, and the GPU lead connector was plugged into the aircraft's ground power receptacle. When the GPU was started, it initially emitted what was considered a 'normal amount' of black smoke. However, both the aircraft commander (observing reflections in the docking guidance system mirror) and the ground handling engineer quickly noticed flames emanating from around the ground power receptacle on the nose of the aircraft.
Evacuation and Response
The commander immediately ordered an evacuation of the aircraft through the exits on the left side. The ground handling engineer shut down the GPU and attempted to retrieve the fire extinguisher from the GPU, but could not access it because the GPU was parked too close to the aircraft's nose. He then asked the flight crew for the cockpit fire extinguisher. While this was being passed down from the DV window, the engineer managed to reach the GPU extinguisher and used it to extinguish the fire around the ground power connector. Meanwhile, the cabin crew coordinated the evacuation of all 29 passengers, some of whom used the left overwing exit. After all passengers were evacuated, the crew also left the aircraft. The passengers were assembled upwind of the aircraft and a headcount was completed.
Subsequent Examination
Examination of the aircraft revealed scorched and sooted paint around the ground power receptacle. The connector on the GPU power lead was badly overheated, and two of the four cables had burned through. The electrical connector on this GPU had been observed to be overheating on a previous occasion, and this fault had been reported to the organization that maintained the GPU for the operator. On the day prior to the incident, this maintenance company had examined the GPU connector and declared it fit for service.
Previous Issue
The GPU connector's overheating had been identified earlier and was brought to the attention of the maintenance organization. Despite this, after examination the day before the incident, it was deemed serviceable, leading to the subsequent fire occurrence.