IRISH air accident investigators have uncovered problems, which could have potential catastrophe consequences concerning the electrical system of a number of aircraft.
On January 11 last, 156 passengers and crew had a fortunate escape when they noticed a small fire onboard their Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340.
The plane was en route from Heathrow to Chicago on a scheduled flight.
Shortly after 12pm when the aircraft was 140 nautical miles west of Galway, the cabin crew reported a small fire in the bottom of the waste bin storage compartment of the bar unit in the upper first class area.
The cockpit crew turned off the galley and commercial power circuits, but the fire persisted. The captain declared an emergency and diverted to Shannon. During the diversion, the cabin crew used five fire extinguishers.
After the incident, Virgin Atlantic inspected a number of their Airbus A340-300 and A340-600. It is understood a number of these aircraft also had potential problems similar to the Shannon flight.
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