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| Date: | Wednesday 17 November 1999 |
| Time: | 10:40 |
| Type: |  Fokker 100 |
| Owner/operator: | British Midland |
| Registration: | G-BXWF |
| MSN: | 11328 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 88 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Near Waypoint SAPCO -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Nottingham-East Midlands Airport (EMA/EGNX) |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Shortly after take off from East Midlands Airport, as the aircraft was climbing through about 4,000
feet, the crew heard a loud 'bang' and about 1 minute later smoke began to enter the flight deck.
After checking with the cabin crew that the smoke was not associated with the galley, immediately
aft of the flight deck, the crew concluded that the problem was probably related to the air
conditioning system although the system indications appeared to be normal. A 'PAN' call was made
by the commander with an accompanying request to divert to Birmingham.
During the ensuing descent towards Birmingham the smoke density appeared to fluctuate, but at no
time did it compromise the crew's ability to see or operate their systems normally. An overweight
landing was made without incident and by the time the aircraft had been parked there was only a
slight smoke haze remaining on the flight deck. The passengers were disembarked normally.
Following the overweight landing check, an inspection of both left and right air-conditioning bays
was made to ascertain whether there were any obvious indications of damage. None was found and
so the auxiliary power unit (APU) was started and the air conditioning packs operated. Both
appeared normal except that a large amount of water appeared to be coming from the left pack air
cycle motor (ACM) drain. After shutting down the APU, the ACM was inspected and found to
rotate freely. The coalescer bag from the water separator unit was found to be blackened and
saturated, and the screen at the inlet from the cool air mixing inlet duct had ruptured. The left
ducting was then re-instated and a similar inspection of the right pack was made, but no
abnormalities were found. After the aircraft returned to its maintenance base the ACM, water
separator and duct of the left air conditioning pack were replaced and sent to the manufacturer for
examination. The aircraft subsequently operated without any further air conditioning faults.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ec30ed915d13710000d5/dft_avsafety_pdf_502274.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7725590 (Photo)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Apr-2025 07:34 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 04-Apr-2025 07:34 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
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