<< >> NASA ASRS Report 306489, June 1995

Flight crew returned to land after declaring an emergency due to an air conditioning pack overheat and subsequent smoke in the cabin.

Attributes
ACN	306489
Time
Date	199506
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : dxo airport : dtw
State Reference	MI
Altitude	msl bound lower : 11000 msl bound upper : 11000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zme
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	DC-9 50
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	enroute : on vectors enroute airway : dtw
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 17000 flight time type : 11500
ASRS Report	306489
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : declared emergency other other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Right air conditioning pack overheat. Cabin smoke. Declared emergency. Returned to dtw. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following: reporter stated that the cause of the right pack overheat was apparently due to a bad automatic temperature controller. The flight attendants did advise the flight crew that there was smoke in the cabin. Since there was smoke and the 'pack' automatically shut down, the decision was made to return and land since they were only about 10 mins out. An emergency was declared. Maintenance determined that it was caused by a bad automatic temperature controller and MEL'd the aircraft for manual use only.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC RETURNED TO LAND AFTER DECLARING AN EMER DUE TO AN AIR CONDITIONING PACK OVERHEAT AND SUBSEQUENT SMOKE IN THE CABIN.

Narrative: R AIR CONDITIONING PACK OVERHEAT. CABIN SMOKE. DECLARED EMER. RETURNED TO DTW. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: RPTR STATED THAT THE CAUSE OF THE R PACK OVERHEAT WAS APPARENTLY DUE TO A BAD AUTOMATIC TEMP CTLR. THE FLT ATTENDANTS DID ADVISE THE FLC THAT THERE WAS SMOKE IN THE CABIN. SINCE THERE WAS SMOKE AND THE 'PACK' AUTOMATICALLY SHUT DOWN, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO RETURN AND LAND SINCE THEY WERE ONLY ABOUT 10 MINS OUT. AN EMER WAS DECLARED. MAINT DETERMINED THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY A BAD AUTO TEMP CTLR AND MEL'D THE ACFT FOR MANUAL USE ONLY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.