Narrative:

We were in cruise flight when the forward cargo bin fire detection warning went off for approximately 8 seconds. In the process of grabbing the QRH to determine the appropriate response; the warning went away. The warning lasted approximately 8 seconds and never returned for the remainder of the flight. We immediately contacted maintenance/dispatch and maintenance advised us that the aircraft had a history of intermittent cargo fire system false warnings. Both maintenance and dispatch stated they were comfortable with completion of flight with that knowledge. I told dispatch that even though this appeared to be an intermittent issue that there was no guarantee that there wasn't a bigger problem going on in the bin and that we would like to make a precautionary landing to have the bins inspected and maintenance check it out. Dispatch offered several possible diversion airports. We elected to go [to the closest airport]. We notified ATC that we were diverting; we did not declare any emergency. We notified the passengers that we were having an issue with the bin fire detection system and that we were making a precautionary landing to have it checked out. When we contacted approach we asked them to roll the fire trucks so that they could inspect our forward bin after landing to be sure nothing was wrong. We landed and pulled off onto the taxiway and stopped there while the fire department inspected the aircraft and found nothing wrong. We then continued to the gate and deplaned the passengers. We were met at the gate by contract maintenance who inspected the fire system.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD83 Captain reported a cargo fire warning which quickly disappeared. Upon contacting Maintenance it was learned the aircraft has a history of false fire warnings and they recommended continuing to destination. The crew elected to divert and have the cargo bin inspected.

Narrative: We were in cruise flight when the forward cargo bin fire detection warning went off for approximately 8 seconds. In the process of grabbing the QRH to determine the appropriate response; the warning went away. The warning lasted approximately 8 seconds and never returned for the remainder of the flight. We immediately contacted Maintenance/Dispatch and Maintenance advised us that the aircraft had a history of intermittent cargo fire system false warnings. Both Maintenance and Dispatch stated they were comfortable with completion of flight with that knowledge. I told Dispatch that even though this appeared to be an intermittent issue that there was no guarantee that there wasn't a bigger problem going on in the bin and that we would like to make a precautionary landing to have the bins inspected and Maintenance check it out. Dispatch offered several possible diversion airports. We elected to go [to the closest airport]. We notified ATC that we were diverting; we did not declare any emergency. We notified the passengers that we were having an issue with the bin fire detection system and that we were making a precautionary landing to have it checked out. When we contacted Approach we asked them to roll the fire trucks so that they could inspect our forward bin after landing to be sure nothing was wrong. We landed and pulled off onto the taxiway and stopped there while the fire department inspected the aircraft and found nothing wrong. We then continued to the gate and deplaned the passengers. We were met at the gate by Contract Maintenance who inspected the fire system.

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.