The first officer of and A319/320 at the gate discharged the aft cargo fire bottle in response to wh...

Narrative:

We had completed a leg in with same aircraft; same crew. The captain was out on walk around and going into ops. I was in the cockpit finishing preparation. A dead heading pilot came up to introduce himself. The fire bell started ringing. I looked at the ECAM to see if someone was testing the APU fire and see what was going on. The ECAM said aft cargo fire - discharge bottle. The bell continued to ring. I looked at the dead header and said we have indications of a aft cargo fire. I looked at the doors page and saw the cargo door was open. We were almost done boarding and had people on the aircraft. I did think that this could be a false indication; but didn't think of any way of quickly determining if it was a false indication or a real fire; so in the name of safety I followed the ECAM and discharged the bottle. The fire bell silenced shortly after that. I then called operations and told them that we had indications of a aft cargo fire. The captain then walked in. I told him what had happened. He went outside and was met by ramp personnel who told them there was not a real fire. I then told operations that we did not need the fire department. We then looked in the book and saw that there was a caution note on the aft cargo fire that said there may be false indications on the ground. I had not been aware of this. The baggage loader said that he believed it was caused by an aircraft that taxied by and pushed hot air into the cargo pit that he had noticed. We called maintenance control and advised them of the aircraft condition. They then told us that it happens a lot. If this is true I think it should be brought to the attention of airbus crews or the ECAM should be changed to say inflight since we are taught to follow the ECAM first and then go to the book; especially in the case of a fire; when a timely response is important. The flight was then canceled.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The First Officer of and A319/320 at the gate discharged the aft cargo fire bottle in response to what turned out to be a false aft cargo compartment smoke warning.

Narrative: We had completed a leg in with same aircraft; same crew. The Captain was out on walk around and going into ops. I was in the cockpit finishing preparation. A dead heading pilot came up to introduce himself. The fire bell started ringing. I looked at the ECAM to see if someone was testing the APU fire and see what was going on. The ECAM said Aft Cargo Fire - Discharge bottle. The bell continued to ring. I looked at the dead header and said we have indications of a aft cargo fire. I looked at the doors page and saw the cargo door was open. We were almost done boarding and had people on the aircraft. I did think that this could be a false indication; but didn't think of any way of quickly determining if it was a false indication or a real fire; so in the name of safety I followed the ECAM and discharged the bottle. The fire bell silenced shortly after that. I then called operations and told them that we had indications of a aft cargo fire. The Captain then walked in. I told him what had happened. He went outside and was met by ramp personnel who told them there was not a real fire. I then told operations that we did not need the fire department. We then looked in the book and saw that there was a caution note on the aft cargo fire that said there may be false indications on the ground. I had not been aware of this. The baggage loader said that he believed it was caused by an aircraft that taxied by and pushed hot air into the cargo pit that he had noticed. We called Maintenance Control and advised them of the aircraft condition. They then told us that it happens a lot. If this is true I think it should be brought to the attention of Airbus crews or the ECAM should be changed to say INFLIGHT since we are taught to follow the ECAM first and then go to the book; especially in the case of a fire; when a timely response is important. The flight was then canceled.

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	867545
Time
Date	200901
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Compartment Fire/Overheat Warning
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 5000 Flight Crew Type 500
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 17000 Flight Crew Type 5500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

The first officer of and A319/320 at the gate discharged the aft cargo fire bottle in response to what turned out to be a false aft cargo compartment smoke warning.