Narrative:

I had just finished my break coming out of crew bunks when another attendant approached and asked if I smelled an electrical odor. I proceeded to first class as I looked around to see if smoke was coming from vents to track the smell that was in the first class cabin. When I approached my galley; I saw the captain was down in the hole of the aircraft at 1L with the hatch open. He instructed me to come down to show me the problem and what was needed to help alleviate the problem. I was shown a big green battery that had or was overheating. The captain said it was still very; very hot and that he had disconnected it.he instructed me to go back up and get first class comforters and wet them down with water. I along with another attendant proceeded too soak at least 6 comforters from empty seats. The captain then climbed out of the hole and said we will be on the ground within the next 20-30 minutes and told me he needed me to go down and wrap the comforters around the battery to try and cool it down. I did as told in any emergency situation; as directed by the captain.I climbed back down into hole and proceeded to wrap comforters around a still very hot battery to help bring heat down. While I was wrapping the comforters; attendant #6 was in contact with the cockpit and several times I was asked if the battery was cooling down and my response each time was yes; as far as I can tell. I had wrapped as many comforters as possible to fit in the area I had to work with. At the captain's request; I was given a pbe and a halon extinguisher in case it was needed. Moments later the captain made a PA for us to prepare for landing. I asked the #6 to ask if I need to stay down or to come up. I was told to come up for fresh air.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Flight Attendant assisted the Captain of the B777 in containing the heat build up of a malfunctioning aircraft battery.

Narrative: I had just finished my break coming out of crew bunks when another attendant approached and asked if I smelled an electrical odor. I proceeded to First Class as I looked around to see if smoke was coming from vents to track the smell that was in the First Class cabin. When I approached my galley; I saw the Captain was down in the hole of the aircraft at 1L with the hatch open. He instructed me to come down to show me the problem and what was needed to help alleviate the problem. I was shown a big green battery that had or was overheating. The Captain said it was still very; very hot and that he had disconnected it.He instructed me to go back up and get First Class comforters and wet them down with water. I along with another attendant proceeded too soak at least 6 comforters from empty seats. The Captain then climbed out of the hole and said we will be on the ground within the next 20-30 minutes and told me he needed me to go down and wrap the comforters around the battery to try and cool it down. I did as told in any emergency situation; as directed by the Captain.I climbed back down into hole and proceeded to wrap comforters around a still very hot battery to help bring heat down. While I was wrapping the comforters; Attendant #6 was in contact with the cockpit and several times I was asked if the battery was cooling down and my response each time was yes; as far as I can tell. I had wrapped as many comforters as possible to fit in the area I had to work with. At the Captain's request; I was given a PBE and a halon extinguisher in case it was needed. Moments later the Captain made a PA for us to prepare for landing. I asked the #6 to ask if I need to stay down or to come up. I was told to come up for fresh air.

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.