SMOKE AND

FIRE
PROTECTION
Smoke or fire is a critical situation and if the
source cannot immediately be identified and
extinguished, a diversion must be initiated.
 Smoke may come
from:
• Cargo & Avionics bay
• Cabin equipment & furnishings
• The bleed system following an
engine or APU failure
• Air conditioning malfunction
• Aircraft Electrical faults
 The smoke will be
detected by sensors
SMOKE
triggering an ECAM
DETECTION warning OR identified
by the crew
 If ECAM SMOKE warning is
triggered, the flight crew must
apply the ECAM procedure.
If the “AVIONICS SMOKE“
ECAM caution is activated, the
ECAM flight crew can apply the
ECAM actions first, or refer
WARNING directly to the
SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS
SMOKE procedure in the QRH.
If smoke is confirmed, the
following procedure must be
applied
 SMOKE
WITHOUT ECAM
WARNING
If smoke is detected by
the crew without any
ECAM warning, or if
the origin of the smoke
is in doubt, the flight
crew must refer to the
QRH
SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS
SMOKE procedure.
QRH SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS SMOKE Procedure

The procedure takes into

account three decisive
challenges common to non
immediately identified
sources of smoke:

The need for a two-

The difficulty to
The shortage of time way cockpit/cabin
identify the source
communication.
 TIME
In a smoke situation situation, timing is critical. A fire may become
uncontrollable in as little as 8 minutes and in this case the crew will have as
little as 15 minutes to bring the aircraft to the ground.
For this reason the SMOKE/AVNCS SMOKE ECAM and QRH paper
procedures both start with a LAND ASAP message. In the frame of this
procedure, the LAND ASAP message requests crews to be prepared for a
diversion.
The “IMMEDIATE LANDING” term found in the QRH paper procedure
means: ‘Accept exceptional circumstances such as a tailwind landing,
ditching, off-airport landing etc’.
DIFFICULTY
 The smoke sources that are
easier to locate, because they
have an ECAM and/or a local
The known sources of warning, and for which there
Smoke can be classified are available means of fire
treatment:
into two different
categories:
CARGO
LAVATORY
The smoke sources that AVIONICS

are more difficult to

locate, which may, or AIR COND
may not, be covered by
an ECAM alert and that
CABIN EQUIPMENT
are considered more
difficult to deal with: These three smoke sources call for single
SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS SMOKE
procedure.
The QRH SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS SMOKE
paper procedure is to be applied whenever
the source of smoke is suspected to be
AVIONICS, AIR COND, CABIN EQUIPMENT
or in case of doubt about the origin. If
another smoke warning is triggered (e.g
LAVATORY SMOKE), the crew must apply
the dedicated existing procedure.
Need for Two Ways Cockpit / • Establishing good two-way
Cabin Communication communication with the cabin
crew is essential in a Smoke
situation.
• In case of smoke in the cabin
the cabin crew should inform
the flight crew as soon as
possible and should follow up
on smoke dissipation.
• In case of smoke in the
cockpit, the feedback from the
cabin crew may prove useful to
identify the source.
• It is so important that “
CKPT/CAB COM……ESTABLISH”
is an action step in the
procedure.
 The trigger of a smoke alert is either an
ECAM message, or a visual or olfactory
perception of smoke. As soon as an
alert is triggered for which there is no
dedicated procedure, the crew should
PROCEDURE apply the SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS
SMOKE procedure. Both ECAM and
PHILOSOPHY QRH paper procedure are totally
compatible with one another.

The LAND ASAP message alerts the

crew to anticipate a diversion.
 The procedure is designed around the
following action blocks:

IMMEDIATE ACTION AT ANY TIME ITEMS DIVERSION TROUBLESHOOTING

DECISION
 If Smoke is confirmed, the following procedure must be applied.
They have been designed to be quick, simple and reversible.

The purpose is to:

IMMEDIATE - Protect the flight crew

ACTIONS
- Avoid further contamination of the cockpit & cabin

- Avionics ventilation air is extracted overboard

- Establish communication with the cabin crew

If the smoke or fire has been
extinguished, then the crew
must decide whether it is safe
to continue with the flight, or
divert.
If the smoke source cannot
be immediately identified
and isolated, a diversion
and descent must be
initiated before entering
the SMOKE ORIGIN
IDENTIFICATION AND
FIGHTING part of the
procedure.
BOXED
These itemsITEMS
may be
applied at ANY time
after the immediate
actions if the smoke
becomes the greatest
threat or if the
situation become
unmanageable,
provided that the
Immediate Actions
have been
completed.
DIVERSION DECISION MAKING

• The crew should consider the following two

questions, which constitute the core of the
SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS procedure:
• Is the smoke source immediately obvious,
accessible and extinguishable?
• If this is the case, can it be isolated?
If the answer to these questions is YES, then this
is the end of the procedure.
On the other hand, if the answer
to at least one of the two questions is
‘No’, then the diversion must be
initiated. In case of a doubt also, a
diversion must be initiated.

Once the diversion is

initiated, the troubleshooting may
be carried on in an attempt to
identify and fight the origin.
 The identification is
undertaken by isolating
different systems and
SMOKE ORIGIN assessing smoke dissipation.
IDENTIFICATION
AND FIGHTING The different smoke sources
listed for troubleshooting in
the procedure appear in the
most probable to the least
probable order.
• If Air conditioning
The crew will enter one of the
Smoke suspected
three paragraphs depending on
where they suspect the source of
the Smoke
• If Cabin
Equipment Smoke
suspected

• If AVNCS/Cockpit
Smoke suspected
IF AIR CONDITION SMOKE SUSPECTED

If smoke initially comes out of the cockpit’s ventilation outlets, or if smoke is detected in the cabin,
the crew may suspect AIR COND SMOKE. In addition, several other SMOKE warning may be
triggered (cargo, lavatory, avionics)
In paragraph one, the flight crew will attempt to isolate the air conditioning systems.
If APU is in use, ensure the BLEED is OFF.
Turn PACK 1 OFF to isolate the air source from the system.
(When BLOWER & EXTRACT are in the OVRD position, a single PACK may not be able to maintain
cabin pressure)
If smoke continues, isolate air source from PACK 2.
If smoke still continues, restore PACK 2, and place BLOWER and EXTRACT to OVRD. This will vent
air conditioning air directly overboard.
IF CABIN EQUIPMENT
SMOKE SUSPECTED

Generally, the cabin crew will

be responsible for the fire
fighting procedure in the
cabin. It is essential that the
cabin crew informs the
cockpit about the location,
density and severity of the
smoke or fire.
In paragraph two, the flight crew
will attempt to isolate the cabin
electrical systems.

• BUS TIE OFF and GEN 2 OFF

• AC 2 BUS Shedding will
isolate most of the cabin
equipment.
• CM2 PFD/ND are lost as well
as Lower ECAM
• The aircraft will be in this
electrical configuration
 If the application of paragraphs
one and two has been
unsuccessful, or if the source of
IF AVNCS/CKPT the smoke is still undetermined,
the flight crew will enter
SMOKE paragraph three.
SUSPECTEDIF
In paragraph three, the flight crew will
consider setting the Emergency Electrical
Configuration to shed as much electrical
equipment as possible
Selecting EMER ELEC GEN 1
Line to OFF, allows one fuel
pump in each wing to remain
operational in Emergency
Electrical Configuration.
Selecting EMER ELEC PWR to
MAN ON will drop RAT and
power up the emergency
generator.
 Selecting GEN 2 OFF now
puts the aircraft into
Emergency Electrical
Configuration. This will shed
as much equipment as
possible. It is important to
remember that in Electrical
Emergency Configuration
smoke removal cannot be
performed. Therefore if
considered necessary, the
smoke removal procedure
must be applied before the
Emergency Electrical
Configuration is set.
This sheds 75% of the
electrical load, the remaining
systems are powered via the
circuit breakers on the
overhead panel.
Two different procedures
can be displayed on the If AVNCS SMOKE is NOT triggered, apply the
ECAM depending if the ECAM actions for ELEC EMER CONFIG without
AVNCS SMOKE is resetting GENs 1+2. The purpose is to shed
triggered or the crew electrical load and not restore generators.
manually sets Emergency
Electrical Configuration.
If AVNCS SMOKE is
triggered, the ECAM The AVNCS SMOKE ECAM procedure guides the
displays a specific crew to restore generators before landing to
procedure that takes into perform the landing in normal electrical
configuration (and normal braking).
account the smoke
detection.
If ELEC EMER CONFIG was manually set, refer to
the QRH checklist to restore generators before
landing.
SMOKE/ FUMES
REMOVAL
If at any time smoke removal becomes priority-
Apply the following appropriate steps, while descending to FL 100 or
MEA. The smoke removal procedure does not stop the smoke source
but rather aims at removing the smoke from the cockpit.

If fuel vapours, leave Cabin Fans On to If no fuel vapours, the procedure

prevent fuel vapours from accumulating stops recirculation of the cabin
with the risk of explosion.
air, increases ventilation and sets
Fuel vapours may enter the cabin via the cabin altitude ready to
Bleed system. depressurise.
Turning the PACKS OFF would prevent
Initiate a Descent
this.
Notify ATC
Once the first step of the REMOVAL OF
SMOKE/FUMES procedure has been
applied, the flight crew will return to the
SMOKE/FUMES/AVNCS Smoke procedure
At FL 100 or MEA

On reaching FL 100 or MEA, the remaining

REMOVAL OF SMOKE/FUMES procedure will be
completed.
In EMER ELEC CONFIG, putting the APU Master
Switch to ON connects the batteries for a
maximum of 3 minutes, allowing manual control of
the outflow valve
Control the Outflow valve manually by setting CAB MODE SEL to MAN
and V/S Control to FULL UP.
At FL 100 or MEA/MORA when differential pressure less than 1 psi,
open RAM AIR.
(APU Master SW must be ON to view CAB PRESS indications)
The most effective smoke removal is the use of RAM AIR
Turn APU MASTER SW OFF to conserve battery life.
Consider opening cockpit window (Max speed 200kts)