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A B737-400's forward cabin lighting control panel became wet while the aircraft was parked overnight with the door open in rain. When the popped circuit breakers were reset the panel arced and emitted flames which had to be extinguished.

Narrative:

Aircraft spent the overnight at the maintenance hanger. During initial preflight; flight attendant advised that the ceiling lights in the cabin would not come on. I noticed that two circuit breakers for that lighting were popped. I recycled the circuit breakers once and they tripped. Maintenance was called and upon arrival they tried to reset the circuit breakers which popped again. The mechanic stated that the aircraft had been at the hangar overnight with the main entry door open. During the overnight; the airport experienced some rain and he further suggested that he believed that the panel that houses the lighting controls; may have gotten wet. He wiped down the area and tried to dry out the electrical components. He then asked me to reset the circuit breakers while he was at the lighting panel. When the breaker was in; the mechanic noticed some arcing immediately followed by flames coming from the panel. He quickly called for a fire extinguisher. The 'a' flight attendant guided him to the halon extinguisher in the galley as I was trying to get the cockpit extinguisher. The mechanic quickly extinguished the flames in just a few seconds. This episode was witnessed by several passengers sitting in first class. After subsequent discussion with the flight attendants; mechanics and maintenance control; we decided not to let an MEL be applied and take the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-400's forward cabin lighting control panel became wet while the aircraft was parked overnight with the door open in rain. When the popped circuit breakers were reset the panel arced and emitted flames which had to be extinguished.

Narrative: Aircraft spent the overnight at the maintenance hanger. During initial preflight; Flight Attendant advised that the ceiling lights in the cabin would not come on. I noticed that two circuit breakers for that lighting were popped. I recycled the circuit breakers once and they tripped. Maintenance was called and upon arrival they tried to reset the circuit breakers which popped again. The Mechanic stated that the aircraft had been at the hangar overnight with the main entry door open. During the overnight; the airport experienced some rain and he further suggested that he believed that the panel that houses the lighting controls; may have gotten wet. He wiped down the area and tried to dry out the electrical components. He then asked me to reset the circuit breakers while he was at the lighting panel. When the breaker was in; the Mechanic noticed some arcing immediately followed by flames coming from the panel. He quickly called for a fire extinguisher. The 'A' Flight Attendant guided him to the halon extinguisher in the galley as I was trying to get the cockpit extinguisher. The Mechanic quickly extinguished the flames in just a few seconds. This episode was witnessed by several passengers sitting in first class. After subsequent discussion with the Flight Attendants; Mechanics and Maintenance Control; we decided not to let an MEL be applied and take the aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.