Nantonaku

That is why I asked. The article just said a hard landing.

Nantonaku

Had a brake fire last week, didn’t even know until the mechanic came up and said your brakes were on fire. He said it happens all the time because they over lubricate. It went out on its own before we knew. That is why I was asking how big the fire was on this incident.

Gunfighter

I'm likely to wait for confirmation unless I suspect the possibility of fuel leaking. Eager pax may not wait.
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Jaww

Step 1: Panic
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Act like a hero

nene

I was in the food court last Saturday and a 737 parked at A-18? (right outside the window) and was disembarking when the right brakes started smoldering with smoke etc. Plane had been parked for a good 10mins. MX guy noticed it, grabbed a firebottle and sprayed it down for a good 2-3mins. White powder everywhere, then the firetrucks arrived and watched. MX brought out two fans and proceeded to cool the brakes and disperse the retardant. A great show for all in the A terminal food court.

CBreezy

Sounds like a CA taking the airplane to try and make the first high speed then doing 30 kts into the victor loop

notEnuf

ATC says "fire" and I say "evacuate." Now tell me why I'm wrong.

Trip7

Where is the fire? If it’s in my brakes I’ll confirm trucks on the way. Every airport they are certified to arrive within 3 mins. Then I’d get info from the fire chief.

notEnuf

Have you watched an aircraft on fire for 3 minutes? They are seeing flames from half a mile away. I'm out.

The brakes and wheel area have grease and hydraulic fluid to feed the fire, along with the nacelle and fuel tanks warming rapidly above and near the brakes.

And I said tell me why I'm wrong, not tell me the stupid thing you would do.

fadecfault

It's not "why you're wrong" but rather "what's the nuance?"

If we consider that even a perfect slide evacuation presents a threat to passenger safety (broken/sprained limbs, heart attacks/anxiety, additional ground hazards), we should always mentally weigh the decision to evacuate against a decision to wait, with the goal of choosing the safest path. Even if we invest just 2 seconds of consideration, it could pay dividends in harm reduction.

If ATC says "fire" without elaboration, how do we know which exits to use? How do we know where to rally the pax? Fortunately in this incident, the crew (presumably) had additional context from the brake temp/MLG loop systems that informed their decision, (despite contradictory reports from Tower), but that's a luxury, not a given.

I don't think any of us can seriously fault the crew here, but it's also possible to imagine an even better outcome (bump it from an A to A+) if they had expanded the team to include ARFF command before blowing the slides.

One extra thought: evacuation can and should be conditional. It seems to get lost in the heat of the moment, but we'd do well to remember we can always pause the evac once the situation is contained.