An A319 flight crew was notified by the cabin shortly after takeoff they had smoke and fire; they declared an emergency and executed a very quick return to departure airport.
Synopsis
An A319 flight crew was notified by the cabin shortly after takeoff they had smoke and fire; they declared an emergency and executed a very quick return to departure airport.
Narrative
This event happened so fast and was so intense that due to the deep immersion in this effort to get the aircraft on the ground immediately the exact occurrences are somewhat difficult to recall. During climb out; passing 3;800 FT MSL; [a] Flight Attendant called. This was highly unusual. Our workload was high due to phase of flight and ATC vectoring in progress. I told the First Officer to answer the call. I had a suspicion that there was a problem. My suspicion was confirmed when he echoed her statement which was 'we have fire; something is burning'. I immediately told Departure that we are landing and declaring an emergency. I also told Tower that we are landing and to move all traffic right now. They gave us a quick descent from 5;500 FT MSL to 5K then down to 3K; followed by clearance for the visual approach. This all happened incredibly fast; maybe 3 minutes from the time we were told there was a fire to the time we landed. I had to extend the gear; flaps; and setup the FMGC which utilized all of my mental resources while flying the plane. [The First Officer] did a great job of handling my list of action items for him. I asked him to tell the Flight Attendant's to fight the fire. I also told him to be ready to evacuate in case it became necessary and that we would use the EVAC QRC. At about 1;000 FT AGL; I asked [the First Officer] to come into the flying loop and double check that everything looked good after running the Final Descent Checklist. He said the airplane looked good and stable. We landed uneventfully and exited the runway onto the taxiway and then pulled into the penalty box where we were surrounded by fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. The fire department used thermal scanning to ensure no hot spots present on the airplane and they did not see any smoke. The flight attendants reported the burning smell dissipated and was actually no longer present. After [being] assured of no fire or odor; we taxied to the gate and deplaned the passengers. I wanted the people off the airplane in case the issue rekindled. We also shut down the APU and requested maintenance after writing up the odor. This was a bit difficult in terms of time compression (quick return) and perception versus reality. There was a bit of confusion in the cabin due to the fear of fire in my opinion. There was even a question in one of the Flight Attendant's mind if there was smoke or not; the cabin was dark. Nonetheless; it is my belief that the crew performed admirably and we got the aircraft on the ground in record time. To my knowledge; no one ever saw flames; the Flight Attendant's in the back did not see smoke; but there was a pervasive smell of burning plastic throughout the cabin as evidenced by the Flight Attendant's and the passengers.
Second reporter narrative
Departed and in turn to heading 040 and passing through 3000 MSL. Flight Attendants called and reported that they 'smelled a fire in the cabin'. Captain immediately told me to tell them we were returning and he told ATC we wanted vectors for the field with a suspected fire on board. We leveled off at 5000 MSL. Sent a message to Dispatch over ACARS and communicated with Flight Attendants while Captain flew aircraft. We were back on the ground within a few minutes. On short final; Flight Attendants called and said that smoke and smell were gone. After landing we parked the airplane and emergency crews met us and inspected the exterior of the airplane. There was no fire; no smoke or odor; and no damage or unusual indications so we taxied back to gate without incident. At no time was there any indications; smells; or smoke in the cockpit to indicate a fire during the event.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.