JQ A330 Diverted due to FIRE

[Matt Coughran]

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-12377,00.html.

A JETSTAR flight from Japan to the Gold Coast has made an emergency landing in Guam after fire broke out in the cockpit.

All passengers and crew are safe and no one has been injured.

The A330-200 aircraft - flight JQ 20 - left Kansai International Airport just before 11pm (AEST) yesterday Australian time carrying 186 adult passengers, four infants and 13 crew including 9 cabin crew and 4 pilots.

Jetstar said a small number of Australians were on board the flight, which was carrying mainly Japanese nationals.

The number of Australians on board still has to be confirmed.

The airline said almost four hours into the flight, smoke was seen in the cockpit and moments later the right hand cockpit window caught fire.

Jetstar said technical crew extinguished the fire which was contained to the cockpit only.

The aircraft landed without incident at Guam International Airport at 2.20am (AEST) Australian time today.

Passengers are now being put up in local hotels in Guam - they'll be flown to Australia on a Jetstar A330-200 aircraft departing this morning from Sydney to Guam and returning to Brisbane International Airport.

Aircraft Engineers in Guam are currently inspecting the aircraft and Jetstar said enquiries from family and friends can be made on 131 538 (Australia) and updates will be put online at www.Jetstar.com.

[Michael Atkin]

Any idea of the rego

[Jason H]

Vh-ebf

[Matt Coughran]

Vh-ebf

[Daniel M]

From initial reports, sounds like a window heat issue

[Stuart Trevena]

Hi All

Jetstar are sending a replacement aircraft to Guam today 11/6.
JQ7994 is due to leave Sydney between 11am and 1pm according the SACL website.

Stuart

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Channel 7 news showed a B717 landing after saying an Airbus like this one!!!

You would think that after all the reports of the Air France A330 lost last week they would know what an A330 looks like!

[Gerard M]

Originally Posted by Daniel M

From initial reports, sounds like a window heat issue

Sorry if it seems like a simple question, but how does a window catch fire?

[Daniel M]

Gerard,

all modern airliners run window heat, much like the demister function on the rear window of many cars. It is turned on to prevent ice forming over the windshields. Obviously this system can malfunction, as seen on a number of Virgin Blue and Qantas 737's over the years, resulting in cracked windows. This is simply a malfunction whereby it has overheated and most likely started to smulder...flames were mentioned in the article, I'd assume flammable outer parts of the window may have caught fire?

If I remember correctly, this isn't the first time this has happened to an Australian aircraft...I think it may have been a QF or JQ aircraft that had a similar incident not too long ago?

[Sarah C]

According to Alan Joyce the "cause of the incident was an electrical connector that is part of a cockpit window heater".

On a lighter note, Guam would be a nice place to divert too!