Engine Fire Spurs Britain to Change Rules on a Locked Cockpit

Cabin crew were unable to contact pilots during the evacuation of a British Airways aircraft at Edinburgh airport last January after flames were seen shooting from an engine, investigators have reported.

The staff wrongly thought the plane's communication system had been knocked out, and could not reach the pilots because the cockpit door was locked. They decided to evacuate the 98 London bound passengers after seeing a 6ft flame coming from the rear of one of the plane's four engines.

One of the three cabin crew said a passenger had a "horrified look" on his face, while others had already left their seats and were moving to the front of the Avro 146-RJ100 aircraft.

The report said some passengers and a member of the cabin crew at the rear of the aircraft were not aware an emergency evacuation was in progress until they reached the front of the cabin.

The incident last January has prompted improved staff training by BA, such as how to operate the communications system in reduced power.

The government has also agreed to cockpit doors remaining unlocked until after the engines are started to enable access if there is a power failure.

The Department for Transport's air accident investigation branch said there had also been confusion among passengers as to what to do once they had left the aircraft, and there should have been someone guiding them to safety. BAA, which runs the airport, said this was now a joint responsibility of cabin crews and airport firefighters, who are required to reach incidents within three minutes.

The report found the fire was caused by too much fuel entering an engine because the correct start-up procedure was not followed by the pilots.

It said this would have caused unburnt fuel to pass out of the combustion chamber and ignite in its turbine, causing a plume of flame from the exhaust.

A ground handler alerted the two pilots to the fire, who activated extinguishers and sent a "mayday" call to air traffic controllers. The report said the captain then heard shouts from the cabin to the effect of "get out".

The purser tried to contact the captain on the plane's communications system, but thought it was not working because of a power failure. He then decided to evacuate the aircraft and opened the left front door slide, then moved to open the right front door before a colleague reminded him there was a fire on that side of the aircraft.

Investigators said he was correct to have evacuated the plane.

The report said any new procedure, such as locking cockpit doors, must be evaluated "to ensure that security requirements do not have an unduly adverse effect on safety aspects".

BA said it accepted there was a breakdown of communications, but it had since reviewed staff training and engine start-up procedures. A spokesman said: "We apologise to our passengers for any distress caused by the incident. At no time was the aircraft, its passengers or crew in any danger."

The British Air Line Pilots Association said it opposed locked cockpit doors but welcomed the government relaxing the regulations.

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