A be-400 first officer; trained as a volunteer fire fighter; used that training to assist in extingu...

Narrative:

I was assisting the PIC in preparing the aircraft for a repositioning flight. The aircraft was under APU power and the PIC was working to upload the computerized charts. This; as well as our other HS125-850 type aircraft with [electronic charts]; has had a problem with the uploading for months. The captain was attempting to remedy a situation that had eluded our maintenance and flight operations personnel for months. He appeared to be succeeding with the chart upload. Also in attendance was a standards captain who was consulting with the captain on the procedure for uploading the charts.during this process; we all concurrently noticed a power fluctuation. The standards captain was near the galley and exited the aircraft while the PIC went to the cockpit. The standards captain called to the cockpit from outside the aircraft and alerted us to a fire coming from the APU exhaust on the right side of the tail. I exited the aircraft as the PIC discharged the APU fire bottle. There was a loud blast and cloud of dark smoke; which quickly cleared due to the windy conditions.I alerted the ramp employees of the situation and grabbed a dry chemical fire extinguisher from one of their tugs. The standards captain went aboard the aircraft and retrieved the halon extinguishers. I noticed some black smoke coming from the top left-hand vent of the APU and climbed a ladder with the dry chemical extinguisher. The standards captain was going to attempt an attack with the halon bottle from the left wing position; but I suggested he not due to the lack of aiming nozzle. I discharged the dry chemical extinguisher into the vent and the black smoke ceased.crash fire rescue equipment arrived and opened the tailcone to inspect for further fire signs. They found none. After the all clear; we acted to preserve the scene by alerting our on-site maintenance personnel. The PIC contacted the office. Operations responded and collected information.as a volunteer firefighter at home; I credit my department's training for the quick and decisive action that was used to resolve the situation without further damage to ours [and] to other aircraft.we should train for stuff like this. We won't always be at a major airport when this kind of stuff happens.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE-400 First Officer; trained as a volunteer Fire Fighter; used that training to assist in extinguishing an APU fire on the ramp that failed to go out despite a timely release of the aircraft suppression system.

Narrative: I was assisting the PIC in preparing the aircraft for a repositioning flight. The aircraft was under APU power and the PIC was working to upload the computerized charts. This; as well as our other HS125-850 type aircraft with [electronic charts]; has had a problem with the uploading for months. The Captain was attempting to remedy a situation that had eluded our Maintenance and Flight Operations personnel for months. He appeared to be succeeding with the chart upload. Also in attendance was a Standards Captain who was consulting with the Captain on the procedure for uploading the charts.During this process; we all concurrently noticed a power fluctuation. The Standards Captain was near the galley and exited the aircraft while the PIC went to the cockpit. The Standards Captain called to the cockpit from outside the aircraft and alerted us to a fire coming from the APU exhaust on the right side of the tail. I exited the aircraft as the PIC discharged the APU fire bottle. There was a loud blast and cloud of dark smoke; which quickly cleared due to the windy conditions.I alerted the ramp employees of the situation and grabbed a dry chemical fire extinguisher from one of their tugs. The Standards Captain went aboard the aircraft and retrieved the halon extinguishers. I noticed some black smoke coming from the top left-hand vent of the APU and climbed a ladder with the dry chemical extinguisher. The Standards Captain was going to attempt an attack with the halon bottle from the left wing position; but I suggested he not due to the lack of aiming nozzle. I discharged the dry chemical extinguisher into the vent and the black smoke ceased.CFR arrived and opened the tailcone to inspect for further fire signs. They found none. After the all clear; we acted to preserve the scene by alerting our on-site Maintenance personnel. The PIC contacted the office. Operations responded and collected information.As a volunteer firefighter at home; I credit my department's training for the quick and decisive action that was used to resolve the situation without further damage to ours [and] to other aircraft.We should train for stuff like this. We won't always be at a major airport when this kind of stuff happens.

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	982036
Time
Date	201111
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Beechjet 400
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	APU
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

A be-400 first officer; trained as a volunteer fire fighter; used that training to assist in extinguishing an APU fire on the ramp that failed to go out despite a timely release of the aircraft suppression system.