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Air carrier medium large transport PIC instructed to write up APU as inoperative when it had suffered damage from a starting procedure fire.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 202424 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199202 |
| Day | Wed |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : cos |
| State Reference | CO |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Flight Phase | ground : preflight ground : parked |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain oversight : pic |
| Qualification | pilot : atp pilot : instrument pilot : commercial |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 9000 |
| ASRS Report | 202424 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : first officer |
| Qualification | pilot : atp |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | aircraft equipment problem : critical non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa other other : unspecified |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : anomaly accepted |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Air Traffic Incident | Pilot Deviation other |
Narrative:
APU caught fire during ground start by maintenance. Ground crews advised maintenance of fire. Cockpit fire handle did not completely extinguish fire. Ground crews put fire out with oxygen, took several attempts. Upon arrival at airport I was instructed to make logbook entry, 'APU inoperative' per message from maintenance coordinator mr X. I talked with contract maintenance and personally inspected the tail cone area of the APU. Maintenance told me a complete inspection of the area had been completed and that the damage was confined to the APU only. Contract maintenance and cos employees instructed me to fill the logbook according to the teletype 'APU inoperative'. Nothing in the logbook indicated an inspection had been completed for an APU fire. The write up 'APU inoperative' per teletype message is a far cry from an 'APU ground fire'. APU was started by contract maintenance. Crew was not present when this incident occurred!
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ACR MLG PIC INSTRUCTED TO WRITE UP APU AS INOP WHEN IT HAD SUFFERED DAMAGE FROM A STARTING PROC FIRE.
Narrative: APU CAUGHT FIRE DURING GND START BY MAINT. GND CREWS ADVISED MAINT OF FIRE. COCKPIT FIRE HANDLE DID NOT COMPLETELY EXTINGUISH FIRE. GND CREWS PUT FIRE OUT WITH OXYGEN, TOOK SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. UPON ARR AT ARPT I WAS INSTRUCTED TO MAKE LOGBOOK ENTRY, 'APU INOP' PER MESSAGE FROM MAINT COORDINATOR MR X. I TALKED WITH CONTRACT MAINT AND PERSONALLY INSPECTED THE TAIL CONE AREA OF THE APU. MAINT TOLD ME A COMPLETE INSPECTION OF THE AREA HAD BEEN COMPLETED AND THAT THE DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO THE APU ONLY. CONTRACT MAINT AND COS EMPLOYEES INSTRUCTED ME TO FILL THE LOGBOOK ACCORDING TO THE TELETYPE 'APU INOP'. NOTHING IN THE LOGBOOK INDICATED AN INSPECTION HAD BEEN COMPLETED FOR AN APU FIRE. THE WRITE UP 'APU INOP' PER TELETYPE MESSAGE IS A FAR CRY FROM AN 'APU GND FIRE'. APU WAS STARTED BY CONTRACT MAINT. CREW WAS NOT PRESENT WHEN THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED!
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.