Accidents caused by cigarette smoking
Peter Stanning
aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
Any ideas?
--
Peter Stanning
Stephan Stephany
>
> The CAA were quoted in yesterdays Daily Telegraph as saying that no
> aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
> remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
> some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
Fire started in a toilet of a VARIG's passenger 707 coming from Rio
de Janeiro (Brazil), in route to Paris, some minutes before the
scheduled landing (this was in 1973). The plane made an emergency
landing in a field and most of the passengers died due to smoke
inhalation. PIC, 1st officer and another crew member survived.
Later on this PIC died when the VARIG cargo 707 he was in charge
disappeared over the Pacific (1974, 1975?).
Hope this helps.
Stephan
--------------------
Dr. Stephan Stephany
mailto:ste...@lac.inpe.br
http://www.lac.inpe.br/~stephan
LAC - Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory
INPE - Brazilian Institute for Space Research
BRAZIL
Mario Leite Fernandes
> aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
> remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
> some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
It was Varig Boeing 707-345c PP-VJZ (c/n 19841); the plane crashed July
1973 in a cabbage field near Orly airport, in a Rio de Janeiro-Paris
flight. Smoke from plastics burned by a back toilet fire, started by a
cigarette, filled cabin and intoxicated passengers and most of crew. There
were some survivors, including most of cabin crew (far from source of
smoke, were able to open windows). Sorry my poor English. Regards
Mario Fernandes
(mar...@uol.com.br)
Vargem Grande Paulista - SP
Brasil
Martin Keenan
>The CAA were quoted in yesterdays Daily Telegraph as saying that no
>aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
>remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
>some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
Although I don't know if smoking was ever *definitely* proven to be
the cause, it was at least suspected in the fatal crash landing of Air Canada
DC-9-32 C-FTLU at Cincinatti on June 2, 1983. The investigation was one of
the major causes of Air Canada banning in-flight smoking back in the eighties.
--
Martin Keenan
Reverse letters in "moc" to respond
F-101 Voodoo Fans of the world, Unite!
Stephan Stephany
>
> The CAA were quoted in yesterdays Daily Telegraph as saying that no
> aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
> remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
> some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
You can find a more comprehensive report in:
http://web.inter.NL.net/users/H.Ranter/index/dbindex.htm
- choose 1973;
- search for RG820 (flight number);
11.07.73 (14.03) Boeing 707-345C PP-VJZ (19841/683) Varig
occupants : 17 crew + 117 passengers = 134.
fatalities: 7 crew + 116 passengers = 123.
location: Paris; nr (France)
nature: Scheduled Passenger phase: Final Approach
flight: RG820 Rio de Janeiro-Galeao IAP - Paris-Orly
Varig Flight 820 departed Rio de Janeiro at 03.03h for a flight to
Paris. At 13.57h the aircraft had already descended to FL080 and
contacted Orly approach, who told the crew to maintain FL080 and head
to the OLS VOR which would take the aircraft to the downwind leg of
Runway 26. At 13.58:20h the flight crew contacted Orly approach and
reported a "problem with fire on board".
An emergency descent was requested. At 13.59 clearance was given to
descend to 3000ft for a Runway 07 landing, making a straight-in
approach possible. While the situation on board was getting worse
(smoke entering the cockpit and passengers becoming asphyxiated), a
clearance to descend to 2000ft was given at 14.01:10h. The flight crew
put on oxygen masks as smoke was making it impossible to read the
instruments. At 14.03 the pilot decided to make an emergency landing
5km short of the runway with gear down and flaps at 80deg. The Boeing
approached with considerable nose-up attitude, in a slight left
bank. The aircraft truncated some small trees and made a heavy landing
on a field. Both main gears collapsed and the engines were torn off in
the subsequent skid. The fuselage however, remained intact. Ten
occupants (all crew members) evacuated the aircraft. By the time the
firemen arrived (6-7 minutes later) the fire had burned through the
roof and there was no sign of life. Of the four unconscious occupants
the firemen could evacuate, only one survived.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "A fire which appears to have started in the washbasin
unit of the aft right toilet. It was detected because smoke had
entered the adjacent left toilet. The fire may have been started by an
electrical fault or by the carelessness of a passenger. The difficulty
in locating the fire made the actions of cabin personnel
ineffective. The flight crew did not have the facilities to intervene
usefully from the cockpit against the spread of the fire and the
invasion of smoke. The lack of visibility in the cockpit prompted the
crew to decided on a forced landing. At the time of touch-down the
fire was confined to the area of the aft toilets. The occupants of the
passenger cabin were poisoned, to varying degrees by carbon monoxide
and other combustion products."
Source: 'Varig 707 had a toilet fire', Flight International 17.04.1976
(995)
CraigSavel
Peter Stanning <pet...@lowarth.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>The CAA were quoted in yesterdays Daily Telegraph as saying that no
>aircraft accident had ever been caused by cigarette smoking seem to
>remember a 707 crash in France caused by a fire in a toilet.This was
>some years ago now but I thought the fire was caused by a cigarette.
I do remember an Air Canada DC-9 from Dallas to Toronto about 10 years
ago. A passenger decided to have a smoke in the lavatory and somehow
started a fire. The plane landed in Cincinnati, but approximately 19
persons died.
Craig Savel
Karl Swartz
>ago. A passenger decided to have a smoke in the lavatory and somehow
>started a fire. The plane landed in Cincinnati, but approximately 19
>persons died.
That's now been over 15 years (June 2, 1983), and 23 of the 46 people
aboard died. But a cigarette was only one of several possible root
causes for the accident, the others involving either electrical problems
or an overheated flush motor. The NTSB was unable to determine the
exact cause of the fire.
--
Karl Swartz |Home k...@chicago.com
|Work k...@netapp.com
|WWW http://www.chicago.com/~kls/
"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person." - Andrew A. Rooney