A-321 captain reported intermittent ECAM smoke aft cargo annunciation during taxi at destination air...

Narrative:

Clearing [runway] xxl in ZZZ; a master warning light and bell sounded; with the ECAM; smoke aft cargo smoke. First officer began the 'immediate action/ECAM exception' search but the warning disappeared before he could complete it. The same warning sounded for about the same amount of time (5 seconds) right after crossing [runway] xxc; but also disappeared before action could be taken. It sounded a 3rd time about 300 yards west of concourse. We stopped; ran the checklist; including discharging the fire suppression agent. The last item on the ECAM action is to not open the cargo door until the pax have deplaned. We called both ramp and operations and asked them to relay this information. We then proceeded to the gate; at which time the aft cargo door was immediately opened. Thankfully there was no fire; but if there had been it could obviously have been serious for the baggage handler as well as the aircraft and its occupants.we have no direct means (that I know of) to communicate with the ground crew and tell them not to open a cargo door. Relaying through ops or ramp is not a great option when time is critical; as it is when we have fire indications. I have been told that other countries utilize the beacon; turing it off as a signal that it is safe to open the cargo doors. That would have been a very useful tool in this situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A-321 Captain reported intermittent ECAM SMOKE AFT CARGO annunciation during taxi at destination airport. Reporter highlighted ramp communication issues upon gate arrival.

Narrative: Clearing [Runway] XXL in ZZZ; a master warning light and bell sounded; with the ECAM; SMOKE AFT CARGO SMOKE. First Officer began the 'Immediate action/ECAM exception' search but the warning disappeared before he could complete it. The same warning sounded for about the same amount of time (5 seconds) right after crossing [Runway] XXC; but also disappeared before action could be taken. It sounded a 3rd time about 300 yards west of concourse. We stopped; ran the checklist; including discharging the fire suppression agent. The last item on the ECAM action is to not open the cargo door until the pax have deplaned. We called both Ramp and Operations and asked them to relay this information. We then proceeded to the gate; at which time the aft cargo door was immediately opened. Thankfully there was no fire; but if there had been it could obviously have been serious for the baggage handler as well as the aircraft and its occupants.We have no direct means (that I know of) to communicate with the ground crew and tell them not to open a cargo door. Relaying through Ops or Ramp is not a great option when time is critical; as it is when we have fire indications. I have been told that other countries utilize the beacon; turing it off as a signal that it is safe to open the cargo doors. That would have been a very useful tool in this situation.

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	1753105
Time
Date	202007
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A321
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Compartment Fire/Overheat Warning
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

A-321 captain reported intermittent ECAM smoke aft cargo annunciation during taxi at destination airport. Reporter highlighted ramp communication issues upon gate arrival.