Delta A321neo, Electrical Fire From GPU Hook-up at SEA

[PHXPhlyer]

Delta Flight from Cancun Erupts in Fire After Landing in Seattle, Evacuation Video Goes Viral

https://viewfromthewing.com/watch-delta ... oes-viral/

On May 6, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A321neo arriving from Cancun, Mexico, caught fire shortly after landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The incident, captured on video and posted online, showed a small fire breaking out under the cockpit as passengers disembarked the aircraft.

The fire started after an electrical cord was plugged into the Airbus aircraft, causing sparks to ignite near the nose of the plane. Pilots had smelled smoke and initiated the emergency evacuation. Evacuation chutes were deployed, and passengers began exiting the aircraft. Video showed some passengers walking on the wing to exit the aircraft. Some passengers were able to deplane via the jet bridge before the evacuation was fully underway. No serious injuries were reported.

Surveillance video from the airport now shows what happened:





According to Delta,

Out of an abundance of caution, slides were deployed and passengers still on board deplaned via the rear of the aircraft. Passengers were fully evacuated, and those deplaned to the ramp returned to the terminal via the ramp stairs.

The FAA added,

Delta Air Lines Flight 604 landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport around 10 p.m. local time on Monday, May 6. While parked at the gate, the crew of the Airbus A321 reported a possible fire caused by the ground power unit. Passengers exited the aircraft using the emergency evacuation slides. Please contact the airline for more information.


Delta provided passengers with apologies, SkyMiles, and inquired about expenses incurred as a result of the incident.

PP

[Ex-Ascot]

Wonder at which point they declared an emergency because the emergency services seemed to take some time. Big airport so maybe some distance to travel.

[tango15]

...and there, folks, is the perfect safety training video. The video lasts five minutes, but there's probably an hour's worth of features to pick out from that. The most obvious to me was the air bridge. I was taught that if there is a suspicion of fire on an aircraft using an airbridge, you remove it as quickly as possible, for the same reason that you don't use lifts in tall buildings in the case of fire - it becomes a chimney. Tests have shown that a flashover will occur, and move rapidly up the air bridge and straight into the terminal as a fireball. I saw a video depicting this, based on a static example, when I was doing air bridge training, and the speed and intensity of the flashover is very frightening.
Where did all the ground staff disappear to? At the time the slides were deployed, there was no-one to be seen. People exiting an aircraft via slides are frightened and confused. There should have been staff there to guide them to the terminal, instead of them wandering around the apron like a herd of cats, and also walking under the wing, though eventually some attempt was made to stop this. 0/10 for procedures, 10/10 as a 'how not to do it' scenario.

[Woody]

I feel some chock, power and coning training coming on in the next few days

GPU’s can only be connected one way, so there must’ve been some kind of failure with the connector, but there should be a power supply cut off at the HOS.

[G-CPTN]

I know we were expecting to view an 'incident', but it seemed ages before anything 'happened' after the initial 'flash'.

[Rossian]

...... for those of us not dispatching what is HOS please?

The Ancient Mariner

[tango15]

...... for those of us not dispatching what is HOS please?

The Ancient Mariner

Head of Stand. Normally, there's a large switch on a wall (or an upright support) that is part of the terminal structure.

[Rossian]

Thanks for that. I'd figured that it was probably something like that but didn't know the acronym.

The Ancient Mariner