You've shut down the left engine because it was on fire. You ask for vectors to the nearest suitable airport, and about that time, smoke is detected in the cargo compartment. You activate the extinguisher and run that checklist. Shortly thereafter, you get a lav smoke indcation. You notify the flight attendant, run that checklist, and the FA comes back and says yes, there is smoke in the lav, but she doesn't see any fire.

Cleared for the approach, glideslope is alive, call for flaps 15. They don't move.

Do you:

A) Abort the approach and run the flap fault checklist
B) Continue the approach estimating your speeds

My instructor and I disagreed on this one today. I'm just curious what some other pilots would do.

 

Land, dude. You're on fire!
I can tell you that in the plane I fly (EMB145), a no-flap landing bumps the speeds by 30 knots.

 

I concur with POPA

 

x3 I would call that an Urgent Emergency

 

Yeah, that's what I did. The sim stopped and my instructor corrected me saying that I needed to run that checklist.

Only 3 more sessions with this guy...

 

The reason for this is that in modern "regional" jets, the engine can burn to the core without spreading the fire to the cabin due to the Kevlar insulation, hence allowing you time to run the checklist and not run off the runway or stalling the aircraft (flaps zero landing).

Now in real life I believe most folks would up to land due to complications associated with smoke in the cabin/cockpit, not the fire.

 

A little bit of expounding on my answer:
If you're flying, have the other guy pull the checklist out and figure out what the speeds should be. You've got time for that, but you may not have time to come back around for another approach.

 

OK, #1 you're cleared for approach, 2 Glidescope is alive, your set for landing... Now Im no Expert on this but if Im on my FAF I would continue for the approach, If you aren't on the FAF you could get vector to troubleshot the problem, But the situation set up is an Emergency in which you need to land ASAP.

 

Training and real-world flying are two different animals. I agree with you about getting the airplane on the ground, because where there is smoke there is fire. But, in a simulator the instructor wants to see procedures, checklist, etc. Think of it this way, in the sim were you in danger of burning up? No. In the sim might you go off the end of the runway? Yes. It is a game, a theatrical event. Learn your lines and act out your part and the next three sessions will go smoothly.

 

I don't care if it's Kevlar or Kryptonite, and I don't care if I'm at the FAF or the IAF -- there's been a fire, there's smoke in the belly, and there's smoke in the Lav. If you've ever seen what an airplane looks like after a fire has consumed it in a matter of minutes, you'll be pointing your little airplane at the closest airfield and going there as fast as you possibly can -- no 250 kt speed limit. If I have to burn up the brakes because I land a little fast with no flaps, OH WELL! Go get me a marshmallow and we'll talk about it while we're observing from OUTSIDE of the airplane.


From the FAF you have a little time. Workload permitting, it's not a bad idea to skim through the checklist that addresses your flap problem. If you can glean some good information from it, great. But you should not let that prevent you from accomplishing the most immediate task of getting a burning airplane on the ground -- ASAP.




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