A potentially deadly fire erupted in the cockpit of a United Airlines flight from Kennedy Airport because mechanics didn’t properly fix the Boeing jet’s windshield heater, investigators said.
Pilots had previously noticed the problem, which forced the Boeing 757 into an unscheduled landing the day before the cockpit fire.
But United’s mechanics in fact had failed to make a proper repair, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report made public today.
Flight 27, on its way from Kennedy to Los Angeles on May 16, had just leveled off at 36,000 feet when its pilots heard a “hissing sound and saw smoke.”
“The captain stated that, ‘within a couple of seconds,’ a fire started and that he saw flames emanating from the top of the glare shield,” the NTSB said.
The smoke wasn’t thick, but it was acrid, the pilots reported.
Capt. Boyd Hammack emptied the cockpit fire extinguisher on the blaze. But that wasn’t enough — the fire erupted again, and Hammack had to call a flight attendant for another fire extinguisher.
As Hammack and his and first officer steered for an emergency landing at Dulles airport near Washington, Hammack’s windshield suddenly cracked.
That forced the first officer to take over the controls. He landed the plane safely, and no one was hurt.
A mechanic said he OK’d the plane to fly without proper repairs because United’s maintenance manual says planes can be flown 50 hours after a blackened or burned window heater electrical connector is reported.
“We did a full inspection and believed the plane was flight worthy,” United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.
With Post Wires