AAIB report into incident with EI-BYO

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has published a bulletin relating to an incident with Aer Arann ATR 42-300 EI-BYO which occurred on October 7 2008. The aircraft was en route Dublin - Isle of Man on ascheduled service with 17 pax and 3 crew when a smoke alarm in the rear lavatory was activated. The flight crew notified the flight attendant at the rear of the aircraft who, on investigation found smoke in the lavatory. The FA discharged a BCF fire extinguisher into the lavatory and closed the door. Two minutes later the smoke was found to have dissipated. The crew notified Ronaldsway ATC of the fire alert and requested priority landing. ATC declared a full emergency and provided vectors for runway 26 where a normal landing was made. Investigation be maintenance personnel found that the cover on the illuminated "Return to Seat" sign had overheated and the bulb filament had failed. Subsequent tests found that the correct bulb type had been fitted.

The offending light unit was subsequently returned to the manufacturer but to date no cause of the failure has been identified.