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Fire on board.
Describe the picture below.
What is happening?
Where is it?
Do you think it is a real fire or a training exercise? Why?
What are the fire brigade doing?
What type of aircraft is it?
What are the firemen wearing?
What liquid are they using to put out the fire?
Is the fire under control or out of control?
What could have caused the fire?

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Vocabulary

smoke smell oxygen mask warning light

fire brigade choke escape chutes evacuate
burn source out of control under control

Match the words in the box with the meanings below:

1. remove people to a safe place due to danger - evacuate
2. the fire has been contained
3. the origins of the fire
4. emergency slide
5. the fire is spreading rapidly
6. grey fumes created by fire
7. an injury received from fire
8. breathing equipment
9. people who put out fires
10. odour
11. a light that tells you about a serious problem
12. have breathing difficulties

Vocabulary exercise
Complete the sentences with a suitable word.
1. I can __________ burning but I can‘t see any __________.
2. Can you identify the __________ of the fire?
3. A __________ has just come on, indicating there is a fire in the washroom.
4. The passengers are __________ due to the thick smoke.
5. Tell the passengers to put on their __________.
6. The fire is __________ and the flames have gone out.
7. The fire is __________ and the flames are spreading.
8. We need to __________ the passengers as soon as possible.
9. We request the __________ on landing.
10. Release the __________ for immediate evacuation .
11. We have a passenger with severe __________ who requires immediate
medical assistance.

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Questions: choose the best question.

1. You want to know if there is a smell of smoke in the cabin.
a. Can you smell smoke?
b. Do you smell smoke?
2. You want to know where the fire is coming from.
a. What is the source of the fire?
b. What does the source of the fire come from?
3. You want to know if the warning light is on.
a. Does the warning light come on?
b. Has the warning light come on?
4. You want to know if the passengers can breathe properly.
a. Are the passengers choking?
b. Do the passengers choke?
5. You want to know if the fire is spreading.
a. Does the fire out of control?
b. Is the fire out of control?
6. You want to know if the pilot intends to use the escape chutes.
a. Are you going to use the escape chutes?
b. Do you use the escape chutes?
7. You want to know if the pilot requires the fire brigade on arrival.
a. Do you require the fire brigade on arrival?
b. Are you requiring the fire brigade on arrival?
8. You want to know if any passengers are injured.
a. Do any passengers burn?
b. Have any passengers received burns?
9. You want to know if it is a good idea to use oxygen masks.
a. Are we using oxygen masks?
b. Should we use oxygen masks?
10. You want to know if it is necessary to evacuate the passengers.
a. Do we need to evacuate the passengers?
b. Are we needing to evacuate the passengers?

Now read the situations and ask your colleague appropriate questions.

1. You want to know if there is a smell of smoke in the cabin.

2. You want to know where the fire is coming from.
3. You want to know if the warning light is on.
4. You want to know if the passengers can breathe properly.
5. You want to know if the fire is spreading.
6. You want to know if the pilot intends to use the escape chutes.
7. You want to know if the pilot requires the fire brigade on arrival.
8. You want to know if any passengers are injured.
9. You want to know if it is a good idea to use oxygen masks.
10. You want to know if it is necessary to evacuate the passengers.

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Onboard fire equipment

smoke detector portable fire extinguisher fire axe

fire protection gloves smoke hood smoke goggles fire blanket

a. b. c. d.

e. f. g.
What is the above equipment used for?
Match the sentences.
1. Use the smoke goggles to… a. put out fires.
2. The smoke alarm is used to… b. protect your hands.
3. Use the fire axe to… c. suffocate the fire.
4. Use the fire extinguisher to… d. help you breathe.
5. Use the smoke hood to… e. protect your eyes.
6. Use the fire blanket to… f. detect fires.
7. Use the gloves to… g. smash through panels.

Speaking: now test your partner.

Eg. What is a fire blanket used for?
What would you use if you wanted to smash through a panel?
What would you put on if there was smoke in the cabin?

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Important verbs

break out catch fire put out set on fire set off

Match the words in the box with the meanings below:

1. The fire brigade extinguished the fire.
2. The cigarette smoke made the smoke alarm ring.
3. Engine number one ignited on take-off.
4. The fan in the washroom / toilet ignited due to the electrical fault.
5. A fire started during the flight.
Mid-air cockpit fire causes Jetstar Airbus emergency landing

An Airbus owned by a budget Australian airline with over 200 people on board
has made an emergency landing on the remote island of Guam after a fire
broke out in the cockpit as the plane flew over the western Pacific Ocean.
The A330-200 Jetstar aircraft – the same model as the fatal Air France plane
which crashed off the coast of Brazil last week – was carrying 190
passengers, including two Britons, and 13 crew, when the fire broke out mid-
air about four hours after it had taken off from Japan.
In the early hours of Thursday, the pilots on Flight JQ20 smelt smoke and
saw flames licking the side of the right hand cockpit window and immediately
began to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.
They then placed a mayday call and prepared for an emergency landing in
Guam, a small US territory which forms part of the Micronesia island chain in
the Pacific region, about 1300 miles east of the Philippines.
The aircraft landed without incident and there were no injuries among the
passengers – the majority of whom were Japanese and Australian - or crew.
The cause of the fire is unknown at present.

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Speaking
Explain why the following sentences are false.

1. The fire broke out in the cabin.

“The fire didn’t break out in the cabin. It broke out in the cockpit. The
captain discovered the fire.”

2. The fire broke out over the Atlantic Ocean.

3.The fire broke out just after the Airbus had taken off from Japan.
4. The steward smelt smoke and saw flames coming from the washroom.
5. A passenger put out the flames with a fire blanket.
6. The pilot didn’t declare an emergency and continued on its journey to
Australia.
7. The plane crashed on landing.
8. Several passengers were injured and were taken to hospital.

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Online Aviation English - English Teacher Oxford - www.englishteacheroxford.co.uk

Causes of fire on board

Read the following incidents where a fire started or smoke was detected on
board. What was the cause of the smoke / fire and what action did the pilot
take?

1. An ATR 42 was en-route to the Isle of Man when an AFT SMK warning
was triggered on the flight deck, indicating there was smoke in the toilet
compartment at the rear of the aircraft. The cabin crew member carried out
the fire fighting procedure and the smoke cleared. The cover on the
illuminated RETURN TO SEAT sign in the toilet had overheated and the bulb
filaments had failed, producing smoke.

2. During taxi to Runway 27R, a wheel fire on a Boeing 747 was seen by the
crew of another aircraft who reported it to ATC. The commander of Boeing
747 brought it to a stop and requested the assistance of the fire service.
When the fire service arrived, they saw smoke coming from the No 7 wheel
but no fire. The wheel was removed and the aircraft towed to a stand where
the passengers disembarked. The cause of the fire was attributed to a failure
of the outer bearing in the wheel; this resulted in a loss of support and caused
the rotating wheel hub to rub against the axle.

3. A Bombardier CL600 was on a scheduled flight from London Heathrow to

Dusseldorf. Shortly after take-off, the Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting
System (EICAS) gave a “SMOKE CARGO” warning. The crew carried out the
appropriate emergency procedure, declared an emergency and returned to
London Heathrow airport. Following a search of the cargo hold, no sign of fire
or smoke was found and the aircraft was towed to a parking stand where the
passengers were disembarked normally. The investigation concluded that the
warning was spurious; probably caused by the smoke detector reacting to
dust, condensation or electromagnetic interference. This aircraft had been
fitted with a new design of smoke detector, which was intended to reduce its
susceptibility to these factors.

4. During cruising flight at Flight Level (FL) 330, the crew of a Beech King Air
350 reported an electrical burning smell and smoke in the cockpit, and
diverted to Cardiff Airport. The cause was subsequently found to have been
caused by electrical shorting due to moisture ingress into the right circuit
breaker panel, located directly below the direct vision (DV) panel in co-pilot’s
side window. Before the flight, the aircraft had been parked outside for two
days at Galway, during which time it had rained.

5. Prior to the flight the aircraft was de-iced due to snow accumulation. During
a ‘No Engine Bleed Air Takeoff’, in which APU bleed air was in use, fumes
and smoke entered the cockpit and cabin causing some passengers to suffer
from eye and throat irritation. After isolating the APU bleed air and selecting
engine bleed air the fumes dissipated. The aircraft returned to Newcastle and
the passengers were offered medical attention. The fumes were as a result of
de-icing fluid entering the APU air inlet during the initial climb out.

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