An Airbus A300B4-622 aircraft had been flown to Abu Dhabi for a maintenance input with an MRO, reportedly a C-Check During this maintenance input, a fire broke out in the cabin. Firefighters extinguished the fire but got not prevent the cockpit and the cabin area of the aircraft to be (nearly) completely destroyed.
The burned-out hull of the aircraft (Source: www.simpleflying.com)
Two other aircraft, an Airbus A319 and an Airbus A320 are said to have been slightly damaged by falling debris as a result of the fire. The probable cause for the fire was either one or a combination of the following factors;
ELectrical Spark
Faulty lighting causing a spark
Electrostatic discharge from paint spraying equipment
Several contributory factors have been identified they were;
The interior of the aircraft was being painted, this could have caused flammable vapours to collect (in certain areas)
The fire could spread easily as there were only a limited amount of fire extinguishers available.
There were (used) paint cans, rags, plastic (polythene) sheets and chemicals inside the fuselage which probably exacerbated the fire.
Company standards and company procedures were possibly not followed by staff working in or on the aircraft
The burned-out hull (Source: www. FligthGlobal.com)
This was the second time the aircraft caught fire. On the 8th of September 2006 a fire broke out on the righthand landing gear after brakes #5 and #6 overheated during a long taxi to the takeoff runway.
When the aircraft returned to stand the fire broke out, subsequently the aircraft was evacuted.
The cause was determined to be caused by trapped hydraulic oil in the alternate brake system.
The wheels and brakes after the fire was extinguished (source and © CIAIAC)
Editorial note;
There is no (public) report available therefore the information on the probable cause and contributing factors have been gathered from different public sources. This blog is only an opinion and does not appoint any blame!
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