An A300 flight crew reported multiple ECAM faults on climbout; eventually annunciating a main cargo ...

Narrative:

While on climb out; passing through 15;000 MSL; we received several momentary ECAM faults. It would come on then go off after a few seconds. At one point the ECAM did show a steady main deck cargo loop fault. The captain indicated that he would run the appropriate checklist; and I as the pilot flying concentrated on flying the aircraft and backing up on radio calls; as the frequency was very busy and we were approaching the transition altitude. While he was running the checklist; I could hear the chime and see that the ECAM warning was resetting itself; making it difficult in completing the checklist. This happened several times. I tried to divide my attention to flying the aircraft and following along with the checklist. After watching the captain secure the switches that were defined by the ECAM we received a land as soon as possible message. With the terrain we had in front of us; and not being certain of our situation with the loop fault we made the decision to return to our [departure airport]. While descending back I became the non-flying pilot; called operations; [told them] that we were returning; and the captain became the flying pilot. A normal approach and landing was performed. Once in the blocks we left the aircraft configured so that maintenance could see exactly what we had. The appropriate write up was then made in the logbook.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A300 Flight Crew reported multiple ECAM faults on climbout; eventually annunciating a Main Cargo Deck Loop Fault. The procedure called for landing ASAP; so an emergency was declared and they returned to departure airport.

Narrative: While on climb out; passing through 15;000 MSL; we received several momentary ECAM faults. It would come on then go off after a few seconds. At one point the ECAM did show a steady Main Deck Cargo Loop Fault. The Captain indicated that he would run the appropriate checklist; and I as the Pilot Flying concentrated on flying the aircraft and backing up on radio calls; as the frequency was very busy and we were approaching the transition altitude. While he was running the checklist; I could hear the chime and see that the ECAM warning was resetting itself; making it difficult in completing the checklist. This happened several times. I tried to divide my attention to flying the aircraft and following along with the checklist. After watching the Captain secure the switches that were defined by the ECAM we received a Land ASAP message. With the terrain we had in front of us; and not being certain of our situation with the loop fault we made the decision to return to our [departure airport]. While descending back I became the Non-Flying pilot; called Operations; [told them] that we were returning; and the Captain became the Flying Pilot. A normal approach and landing was performed. Once in the blocks we left the aircraft configured so that Maintenance could see exactly what we had. The appropriate write up was then made in the logbook.

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.

Attributes
ACN	878591
Time
Date	201003
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Compartment Fire/Overheat Warning
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 2800
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 7000 Flight Crew Type 2000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

An A300 flight crew reported multiple ECAM faults on climbout; eventually annunciating a main cargo deck loop fault. The procedure called for landing as soon as possible; so an emergency was declared and they returned to departure airport.