Korean investigators have disclosed that the fire which destroyed an Air Busan Airbus A321 originated in a rear overhead luggage bin, as the aircraft awaited a delayed pushback from Gimhae airport.
Investigation authority ARAIB’s preliminary findings have not specified the source of the 28 January blaze.
Passenger boarding had been completed and the exit doors closed prior to the outbreak of fire.
The aircraft had been due to depart for Hong Kong at 21:55 but was delayed by en route congestion, so pushback was rescheduled to 22:33.
Passengers were given a safety briefing before being informed of the delay.
Some 10min after the doors were closed a ‘lavatory smoke’ warning was issued in the cockpit.
“Shortly after, a cabin crew [member] reported to the captain a fire in the rear of the cabin, and the captain ordered the cabin manager to proceed with emergency evacuation,” says ARAIB.
It states that the evacuation involved deploying seven slides, one for each exit apart from the forward right-hand door.
The crew notified air traffic control of the situation before evacuating, with the captain the last to leave after checking all the passengers had gone.
Of the 170 passengers, three were seriously injured and another 28 receive minor injuries. None of the six crew members was injured.
Firefighting vehicles arrived at 22:17, about 3min after the initial alert. Fire suppression commenced at 22:20 and took around 71min to complete.
Although the upper fuselage and cockpit were completely gutted, the wings and engines remained intact. The aircraft had 16.3t of fuel on board.
While the investigation has yet to reach conclusions on the reason for the fire, the Korean government has issued precautionary guidance over carriage of lithium-ion batteries and electronic cigarettes on board aircraft.
