Racing the Inferno: The story of Air Canada Flight 797

Racing the Inferno: Air Canada 797

2nd June 1983, in the skies over the Northern United States, Air Canada flight 797 is on course to Toronto Pearson Airport in nearby Canada. The flight took off from Dallas Fort Worth at 16:25 that evening and should be on the tarmac in Toronto within three hours or so with a short stopover in Montreal. The plane they are flying is Douglas Corporation DC-9 registration C-FTLU. In 1983, this is one of the most prevalent short-haul aircraft in the world, credited for its reliability, safety and it's the capability to fly out of small airports with little infrastructure. Up to now, this is a regular normal flight for everyone on board, including the two pilots. 

At 18:51 however, something peculiar transpires in the cockpit. 3 circuit breakers pop from their sockets. Circuit breakers are similar to fuses in a domestic house, they protect vital systems and electrics from catching fire by uprooting power to them when are becoming overloaded. In this situation, the problem is coming from the washroom at the rear of the DC-9. It is the flush motor of the lavatory which has overloaded. The captain attempts to push the circuit breakers back in as although it is a small issue, the flight could become uncomfortable to the passengers if one lavatory is blocked for the flight to Toronto. His endeavours to force them back though are futile. After a conversation, the two pilots decided to take no further action and wait until the motor has cooled down before endeavouring to push the circuit breakers again. 

Nine minutes later, a passenger seating near the washroom at the rear of the DC-9 starts to inhale an unfamiliar scent, like a burning plastic aroma. They relay this information to the flight attendant who examines the origin of the odour and identifies that it is emanating from the washroom. They open the door and see no fire but a small cloud of light grey smoke aiming towards the ceiling of the lavatory. They obtain one of the fire extinguishers and begin to coat every surface. They begin to shuttle passengers away from the smoke to the front of the DC-9 and opening the air vents above the passenger's seats to command air to the rear of the cabin. Meanwhile, in the cockpit, the pilots attempt to push the circuit breaker back in but whatever the problem is with the toilet motor it is not fixing itself. At 19:02 the flight attendant joins the pilots in the cockpit, to inform them about the smoke from the rear washroom. The captain requests that the first officer attends to the issue, whilst he puts his oxygen mask with 100% oxygen and tries to communicate with air traffic control. At the back of the DC-9, the smoke from the lavatory is becoming denser by the second and he is unable to even access the washroom as the door handle has become scorching to touch. At 19:04, the first officer returns to the cockpit flustered after been pounded back by the dense smoke, he suggests to the captain that they should descend. However, before he can touch the controls, the lead flight attendant comes into the cockpit and suggests that the situation isn't as bad as they once thought, implying that the smoke is calming down. At this point, the captain believes it was only a fire in the lavatory bin and can be easily put out.