The investigations into the B777-200 cockpit fire accident which took place on 29 July 2011 at Cairo International are in progress as the Egyptian authorities revealed early this week. On Saturday, Captain Shaker Qilada, head of the Air Transport Accidents Investigations Office, issued a statement that the Egyptian office was adopting all legal procedures to check the evidence and make a full report. On 29 July, an EgyptAir Boeing 777-200 experienced a fire in the cockpit while being prepared for departure at Terminal 3 at Cairo Airport. At the time the crew detected the fire, and along with passengers expeditiously deplaned with no injuries. The flight was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight. The investigation into this accident is being led by the Central Directorate for Aircraft Accidents Investigation, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, with assistance being provided by an accredited representative of the United States National Transportation Safety Board and the manufacturer of the aircraft. "As such," Qilada added, "we will not confirm or deny any suspicion." The statement revealed the investigators could reach a number of possible causes of the accident. They will study and examine each one. No final conclusions have come out of the report. "We need to study oxygen circulation in the cockpit," Qilada concluded. The Official report issued by Egyptian authorities Investigation Progress Statement for the Boeing 777 Cockpit fire accident dated 29/07/2011 On July 29, 2011, a Boeing 777-200, Egyptian registration SU-GBP, operated by EgyptAir, experienced a fire in the cockpit, the fire started at the right hand lower portion of the cockpit area, below the number 3 window. The aircraft was preparing for departure at Gate F7, Terminal 3 at Cairo Airport at the time the crew detected the fire, and the crew and passengers expeditiously deplaned with no injuries. The flight was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight. The investigation into this accident is being led by the Central Directorate for Aircraft Accidents Investigation, Ministry of Civil Aviation with assistance being provided by an Accredited Representative of the United States' National Transportation Safety Board. The manufacturer of the aircraft, The Boeing Company, and the United States' Federal Aviation Administration are acting as technical advisors to the United States Accredited Representative. The investigation is still in the early phases, and no final conclusions have yet been drawn. However, there has been substantial work conducted to determine the possible causes of the fire and to determine what mitigating actions should be taken. Examination of the aircraft determined that the cockpit was extensively damaged, and two holes were burned through the aircraft external skin just below the First Officer's window. In addition, smoke damage occurred throughout the aircraft, and heat damage was found on overhead structures well aft of the cockpit. The investigation has been working to determine potential ignition sources in the most heavily damaged portion of the cockpit. The crew's oxygen system has a number of oxygen lines and hoses running through this area, so the investigation has conducted testing to determine if a failure involving these hoses could have been the primary cause of the fire The Boeing Company has conducted an extensive test programme to determine if the oxygen system hoses were electrically conductive, and if they could have ignited if an electrical fault was present that involved these components. The preliminary results of this testing indicate that some hoses used in the crew oxygen system are electrically conductive, while some hoses are not. When the hoses were manufactured, there was no specification in place to require that the hoses be non-conductive as received from Boeing. In addition, the test results indicate that, if the hoses are conductive, and if a sufficient electrical current is flowing through them, the hoses may heat to the point of failure and self-ignition. Currently, the Boeing Company, in coordination with the investigation and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, is working to develop mitigation strategies that are designed to eliminate this potential source of fire in the cockpit. Boeing is working to finalise a Service Bulletin that is designed to inspect for and eliminate potential electrical faults around the crew's oxygen system lines and hoses. In addition, Boeing is developing plans to replace the current crew oxygen system hoses with new, non-conductive hoses and is evaluating the benefits to providing additional electrical grounding points for crew oxygen system components. The design work for these efforts is expected to be complete by the end of November, and any newly required parts are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2012. As the investigation progresses, additional update will be issued.
