A dc-10 cargo fire lower alerted three times with the tri tone but no flashing discharge switch so a...

Attributes
ACN	1097777
Time
Date	201306
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	DC-10 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Compartment Fire/Overheat Warning
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Narrative:

On climbout passing about fl 180 we received an aural warning and a boxed 'cargo fire lower'. It lasted about two cycles and stopped. We did not see a flashing discharge switch when we looked up as the warning was gone. This repeated about three additional times with the same result. By the time we would look up the discharge switch was no longer flashing. We declared an emergency and [began a return to the departure airport] for a visual approach. No smoke or other indications of a fire noted. The aural warnings ceased once we began our [return]. Fire crews saw nothing obvious on the aircraft after landing. Fire trucks escorted us back to the gate and inspected the bellies and found no signs of a fire. We released the aircraft back to maintenance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DC-10 CARGO FIRE LOWER alerted three times with the TRI tone but no flashing discharge switch so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport but no sign of fire was seen.

Narrative: On climbout passing about FL 180 we received an aural warning and a boxed 'Cargo Fire Lower'. It lasted about two cycles and stopped. We did not see a flashing discharge switch when we looked up as the warning was gone. This repeated about three additional times with the same result. By the time we would look up the discharge switch was no longer flashing. We declared an emergency and [began a return to the departure airport] for a visual approach. No smoke or other indications of a fire noted. The aural warnings ceased once we began our [return]. Fire crews saw nothing obvious on the aircraft after landing. Fire trucks escorted us back to the gate and inspected the bellies and found no signs of a fire. We released the aircraft back to Maintenance.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A dc-10 cargo fire lower alerted three times with the tri tone but no flashing discharge switch so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport but no sign of fire was seen.