When Airplanes Disappear: Malaysian 370 and Possible Cargo Fire From Li-Ion Batteries

[Mr. Desmond]

An excerpt from an investigation into the fire, warnings from Boeing, FAA, and Airbus, and the FAA's inability to establish new regulations in carrying battery cargo.

Let's hope airlines and the FAA get it together soon.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/15/the-deadly-cargo-inside-mh370-how-exploding-batteries-explain-the-mystery.html?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning

"The two side-by-side Motorola pallets were placed in the forward cargo bay, beneath the passenger cabin and just ahead of the wings. Beyond them was a large empty space, equal to the size of four pallets. That left three rows of side-by-side containers holding passenger luggage. The electronics bay was separated from this luggage by a bulkhead.

Illustration by The Daily Beast

In the case of Flight 370 the exact location of the batteries in the cargo hold is potentially of huge importance. A fire originating in that location could degrade the airplane’s ability to suppress a fire by crucially changing the flow of air (and oxygen).

The cargo hold has a special liner intended to contain a fire until it is extinguished. A battery fire might well have been intense enough to breach the liner and, in doing so, allow the airflow to weaken the concentration (and therefore the effectiveness) of the Halon gas used as a fire suppressant.

When a new airplane is flight tested, its ability to survive smoke and fire is an important part of the program. A very dense but safe “test smoke” is pumped into the airplane. One of the key objectives is to identify the airflow patterns to determine, for example, how long concentrations of the Halon fire suppressant retain their effectiveness, how long it takes for smoke to properly be dispelled from the passenger cabin, or when more fire suppressant is needed in a cargo compartment.

It is also especially important to assure that if smoke ever enters the cockpit it is quickly dispelled, to make sure that the pilots are not overcome by it.

Pilots are equipped with special oxygen masks (and goggles) with a long-duration oxygen supply, to cope not just with smoke but with a loss of cabin pressurization that could incapacitate them.

An expert with long experience of the Boeing 777, who for professional reasons cannot be identified, was shown the position of the Motorola containers on Flight 370.

He told me that a “sufficiently serious” lithium-ion battery fire could have overwhelmed the fire suppression equipment in the cargo hold. A fire initiated in the battery consignment and sustained by fuel in the form of baggage would, he said, be far more severe than the fire protection system was able to handle, even though it met the current regulatory standards."

[Yukari]

I am not sure how this is related to MH370 as its route appears to have been diverted intentionally. 

[Mr. Desmond]

I am not sure how this is related to MH370 as its route appears to have been diverted intentionally. 

I think the entire article mentions why it made sense to divert. It's a read.

[David in FL]

My best friend is a very senior captain for FedEx.  He HATES hauling Li-Ion batteries.  Says they worry him more than any other hazardous cargo they carry....