Cockpit Smoke!

Yesterday, while riding with a friend I experienced smoke in the cockpit. I was stunned at how quickly the cockpit filled with smoke and how quickly the smoke obscured the windscreen.

Here's the details:
We were riding along in his Porsche 911 when all of a sudden white toxic smoke started pouring out of the AC vents.

In the matter of a few seconds neither of us could see the road. He quickly pulled over and we were able to get out.

Lucky for us, the fire went out as quickly as it started we were in a car and not in an airplane.

Since my friend has multiple cars, he doesn't drive his beautiful 911 very often and the day before he added wires to the battery so he could use a battery tender, which is what caught fire.


Here is why this is VAF worthy and the reason I'm posting this.

1. Wrong wire. When installing your wires, make sure you use aircraft grade Tezel wire. The auto wire my friend used DID give off noxious orders and had we not been able to get out of the car as quickly as we did, we probably would have been incapacitated very quickly.

2. Wrong wire and no fuse/breaker. His leads came off the battery and had no fuse on them. Had there been a fuse, once the short occurred, there would have been no ensuing fire.

3. Wrong wire, no fuse/breaker, and exposed leads. He used blade connectors on the ends of his wires and they were able to touch together, causing a direct short. Once the short occurred, the wires burned all the way back to the battery, this was a distance of about 18". Who knew that 18" of wire could produce that much smoke?

When installing your wiring, make sure you follow aircraft standards and think about what your wires can rub against, possible shorts, where is your fuse/breaker located, etc.

Had that "small" fire occurred in an airplane, I'm not sure we would have been able to get back on the ground safely.

Oh, the 911's baggage compartment's plastic liners were damaged by the fire and there is a minor paint "scorch" mark on the inside of the hood. He was on line last night ordering replacement parts.

smoke is deadlier than fire

The lessons you covered when learning to fly.... about getting on the ground as SOON as possible, are all valid. And I mean soon. This C210 filled with smoke as I climbed through 3000AGL. I spotted a clearing in the woods and slid it on. Gear up. Opening the windows, kicking the doors ajar... all had very little positive effect. And pull those seat belts as tight as you can. Unfortunately, the little canisters called SMOKE HOODS were recalled from the market. I would purchase them again for the RV if I could.
[/URL][/IMG]
This original post was car related... so I apologize if I hijacked it a bit.
I have a collection of graphic photos as the plane burned, but I think one is enough to get the idea. AV Gas and other fluids in our RV's are highly combustible. That is just an academic term, until you see it a few feet from your face.
Be prepared with a plan... and hope you never use it.

A lot of guys get their "callsign" because of something funny, a play on words, or an embarrassing moment. I got mine from an electrical fire in the cockpit.

It's like they drill into new pilots and at safety seminars - break one link in the accident chain to prevent the final outcome.

Glad you guys were able to get stopped safely!

v/r
"smokeboy"

Scary stuff, guys. Here's a question for all of you: do you think anything could have been done to snuff out the smoke/fire quickly? Obviously this doesn't apply to the Porsche, but I always planned on killing the master switch immediately and pulling out the fire extinguisher at any smell or hint of smoke. Was the electrical system left on in the 210 or did shutting it down not help?

On the turbo 210, I shut everything off at onset of smoke. That was no help. Had to turn on master and boost pump to clear a line of pine trees on final, since the heat in the cowl vapor locked the fuel. Only for about 3 seconds to get some power. After that, just calculated a new flare height since the wheels refused to go down. The sound of the prop grinding down is one that sticks with me. After a hundred yard slide, it flipped over. In prep for the landing I had my pax jump over into back seat and buckle in. Turns out he was the one that had minor injuries from the lap belt. Mostly just bruises.
It burned to scrap metal, so NTSB did not find the cause of the fire.
Went out flying the next morning in my Luscombe. Gotta stay in the saddle or it will spook you.

911

Seems like your buddy has more money than sense. Don't the windows roll down in a 911?

ronrapp said:

but I always planned on killing the master switch immediately and pulling out the fire extinguisher at any smell or hint of smoke.

Click to expand...

Have you ever pulled the trigger on an extinguisher in a small enclosed space? That could potentially make visibility and the ability to land the plane safely exponentially more difficult. Just a thought.

paul mosher said:

Seems like your buddy has more money than sense. Don't the windows roll down in a 911?

Click to expand...

Yes, we both looked at each other and put the windows down at the same time; BUT, we were both surprised at how quickly the smoke filled the car and obscured our view out the windshield. Had that happened in my tip-up RV, I probably would have opened the canopy, which could feed a fire. No easy choices.

My point is, we were both stunned at how quickly the view out front was obscured and that we were lucky to only be going 50 MPH and on the ground.

smoke

What I meant was that he has the means to buy a 911 but apparently has no electrical sense. Being able to bungle up such a simple wire install is astounding.

paul mosher said:

What I meant was that he has the means to buy a 911 but apparently has no electrical sense. Being able to bungle up such a simple wire install is astounding.

Click to expand...

Correct, he is not a "builder" and never touches his plane, other than to fly it. I'm sure he is his mechanic's best customer!

ronrapp said:

I always planned on killing the master switch immediately ... did shutting it down not help?

Click to expand...

If the burning material is self sustaining, the Master will not help. In my case, the electrical current was maintaining the fire so turning off the Master did help - although there was still smoke being generated, it was not at the same rate as before.

(a bit more detail is available from what I wrote on the day of the incident)

An interesting discussion here. I'm glad no one was hurt.

It prompted a question in my mind: With a slider canopy on an RV-9, if you had a cockpit fire and were starting to be overcome with smoke, could you release the canopy (if the airspeed were low enough) to clear the smoke?

I know that the extra air would accelerate the fire, but it beats asphyxiation. Also, there'd be potential for the canopy to fly off and take off part/all of the empennage, which would also ruin your day.

I hijacked the Porsche thread a bit... to insert a photo. Just a reminder to be safe out there... and sort out your plan of action well in advance.

In my 9, I would ventilate by all means. Smoke inhalation causes the first and fastest damage. Not the flames.