Narrative:

40 mi out of 2 on flight from sdf-pit a F/a came to cockpit and said he smelled something burning at the rear of the airplane an medium large transport. He looked through the rear cabin door into the tail cone area and saw a red glow on the aircraft left side. The captain sent me to investigate. I saw the exact same thing the F/a saw. I told the captain, he initiated emergency procedures and had me declare an emergency with cle. We were cleared direct pit and given no descent or airspeed restrictions below 10000'. We continued to work the emergency and the captain determined an emergency evacuation was necessary. We informed pit approach of our intentions. We were cleared to land runway 32 pit. We landed and evacuated the aircraft. The fire department saw smoke come out of the rear of the airplane after the tail cone was released. Maintenance determined a frozen air cycle machine was the problem. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information. With absolutely no abnormal cockpit indications there was a slight delay in taking action but smoke eventually was detected by the cabin attendant and the aft lav smoke detectors. Cabin temperature control and indication were normal throughout the incident. Air cycle machine was changed and the aircraft redispatched the next day.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR MLG DEVELOPED HIGH TAIL CONE TEMP AND GLOW TYPE FIRE THAT WAS DETECTED BY CABIN ATTENDANT. EMERGENCY DECLARED AND ACFT DIVERTED TO ALTERNATE.

Narrative: 40 MI OUT OF 2 ON FLT FROM SDF-PIT A F/A CAME TO COCKPIT AND SAID HE SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING AT THE REAR OF THE AIRPLANE AN MLG. HE LOOKED THROUGH THE REAR CABIN DOOR INTO THE TAIL CONE AREA AND SAW A RED GLOW ON THE ACFT L SIDE. THE CAPT SENT ME TO INVESTIGATE. I SAW THE EXACT SAME THING THE F/A SAW. I TOLD THE CAPT, HE INITIATED EMER PROCS AND HAD ME DECLARE AN EMER WITH CLE. WE WERE CLRED DIRECT PIT AND GIVEN NO DSNT OR AIRSPD RESTRICTIONS BELOW 10000'. WE CONTINUED TO WORK THE EMER AND THE CAPT DETERMINED AN EMER EVACUATION WAS NECESSARY. WE INFORMED PIT APCH OF OUR INTENTIONS. WE WERE CLRED TO LAND RWY 32 PIT. WE LANDED AND EVACUATED THE ACFT. THE FIRE DEPT SAW SMOKE COME OUT OF THE REAR OF THE AIRPLANE AFTER THE TAIL CONE WAS RELEASED. MAINT DETERMINED A FROZEN AIR CYCLE MACHINE WAS THE PROB. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO. WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ABNORMAL COCKPIT INDICATIONS THERE WAS A SLIGHT DELAY IN TAKING ACTION BUT SMOKE EVENTUALLY WAS DETECTED BY THE CABIN ATTENDANT AND THE AFT LAV SMOKE DETECTORS. CABIN TEMP CTL AND INDICATION WERE NORMAL THROUGHOUT THE INCIDENT. AIR CYCLE MACHINE WAS CHANGED AND THE ACFT REDISPATCHED THE NEXT DAY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.