A B737-300 captain's sliding window heat electrical attach point produced a bluish smoke and glowed ...

Narrative:

Passing approximately 8;000 ft MSL; I (the captain) noticed what appeared to be the image of a small flame in the left side window; behind my ipad. Smoke began to appear. Initially I thought the source of the flame/smoke was the ipad. I moved my head forward to look behind the ipad. I noticed glowing ember and sparks coming from the forward bottom of the left sliding window (number 2 window). I removed my ipad to better see the source. I called out smoke to the cockpit crew (myself; the first officer; and a check airman jumpseater) and we donned our oxygen masks. Smoke goggles were not donned. The smoke was not thick enough to warrant the usage. Also; the ember had started to die out by the time we had completed putting the oxygen masks on. I grabbed the dispatch release and put out the ember. The smoke stopped. We ran the smoke/fire/fumes immediate action items and checklist. Left side window heat switch moved to off. Heat source burned out and smoke dissipated. Decided to return to the departure airport. Flight attendants and passengers briefed of the situation and reassured that the source of smoke was identified and stopped; that as a precaution we were returning; and that we plan to taxi back to the gate normally. When asked; one of the forward flight attendants noted that she smelled smoke; the other did not. ATC advised of the situation and that the smoke had stopped. An emergency was not declared. Fire trucks were not requested. We requested vectors back to visual/ILS 6. Jumpseater completed landing calculation duties. Landed below max landing gross weight. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we taxied back to the gate. We had some difficulty establishing crew communications using the masks. It took about 15 to 25 seconds longer than I would have expected for us to set the switches correctly and at an appropriate volume using the overhead speaker. For me; I had inadvertently moved my boom/mask switch back to boom while reaching for the right/T-I/C switch.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 Captain's sliding window heat electrical attach point produced a bluish smoke and glowed amber; so the window heat was turned off. The Smoke; Fire and Fumes Checklist was completed and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: Passing approximately 8;000 FT MSL; I (the Captain) noticed what appeared to be the image of a small flame in the left side window; behind my iPad. Smoke began to appear. Initially I thought the source of the flame/smoke was the iPad. I moved my head forward to look behind the iPad. I noticed glowing ember and sparks coming from the forward bottom of the left sliding window (Number 2 window). I removed my iPad to better see the source. I called out smoke to the Cockpit Crew (myself; the First Officer; and a Check Airman jumpseater) and we donned our oxygen masks. Smoke goggles were not donned. The smoke was not thick enough to warrant the usage. Also; the ember had started to die out by the time we had completed putting the oxygen masks on. I grabbed the Dispatch Release and put out the ember. The smoke stopped. We ran the Smoke/Fire/Fumes Immediate Action Items and Checklist. Left side window heat switch moved to off. Heat source burned out and smoke dissipated. Decided to return to the departure airport. Flight attendants and passengers briefed of the situation and reassured that the source of smoke was identified and stopped; that as a precaution we were returning; and that we plan to taxi back to the gate normally. When asked; one of the forward flight attendants noted that she smelled smoke; the other did not. ATC advised of the situation and that the smoke had stopped. An emergency was not declared. Fire trucks were not requested. We requested vectors back to Visual/ILS 6. Jumpseater completed landing calculation duties. Landed below max landing gross weight. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we taxied back to the gate. We had some difficulty establishing crew communications using the masks. It took about 15 to 25 seconds longer than I would have expected for us to set the switches correctly and at an appropriate volume using the overhead speaker. For me; I had inadvertently moved my boom/mask switch back to boom while reaching for the R/T-I/C switch.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1182664
Time
Date	201406
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Window Ice/Rain System
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

A B737-300 captain's sliding window heat electrical attach point produced a bluish smoke and glowed amber; so the window heat was turned off. The smoke; fire and fumes checklist was completed and the flight returned to the departure airport.