What would cause the cockpit of a commercial jet to fill with smoke? Anybody knowledgable enough to venture a guess?

Australia: Jet makes emergency landing as smoke fills cockpit

A Qantas jet carrying 68 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing at Darwin Airport this morning.

It is believed the plane was about 20 minutes out of Darwin on its way to Gove when one of the engines failed and there was smoke in the cockpit.

The pilot decided to return to Darwin and alerted the airport of his planes condition.

Emergency crews were placed on standby, but airport management say the plane touched down safely, and no one was hurt.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/nat/newsnat-21jan2000-29.htm

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), January 20, 2000

Answers

http://www.flight592.com/Flight592Discussion-Previous/_disc5/00000042. htm

-- No Knowledge (just@knowledge.obsessed), January 20, 2000.

Nearby materials temp raised beyond combustion threshold.(just a guess...)

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), January 20, 2000.

I'll bet something was either burning or smouldering (just a hunch).

-- Paranoia Will (Destroy_Y@BlackCopters.com), January 20, 2000.

Here's more on the same story--much more detail....:

Forced landing not an emergency: Qantas

Source: AAP | Published: Friday January 21, 12:04 PM

A Qantas jet with 77 passengers aboard had to abort its flight and return to Darwin airport this morning after a mechanical fault caused an engine failure.

While fire crews and ambulance officers were placed on standby, the airline said the forced touchdown did not constitute an emergency landing.

Some 20 minutes out of Darwin and bound for Nhunlunbuy on the Gove Peninsula and then Cairns, the pilot of the British Aero Space 146 shut the engine down after detecting smoke in the cockpit, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

She said earlier reports two of the plane's four turbines malfunctioned were incorrect.

The carrier also disputed claims passengers saw flames and oil stream from the ailing engine in mid-flight.

The jet landed back at Darwin about 40 minutes after its initial 6.25am take-off, the spokeswoman said.

Technicians were examining the craft to find the cause of the mishap.

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), January 20, 2000.

One more artic le emphasizes the smell of burning oil.

(for educational purposes only)

"Cabin filled with smoke before flight was aborted

A passenger on this morning's aborted flight from Darwin to Townsville, via Gove, says he was concerned when the cabin started filling with smoke.

Major Wayne Bradbury of the Fifth Army Aviation Regiment was on his way home to Townsville after serving in East Timor.

The Airlink plane with 77 passengers was forced back to Darwin 20 minutes into its flight when one of its four engines failed.

It landed safely early this morning.

Major Bradbury said while there was not too much panic on the plane there was obvious concern, although the crew handled it all professionally.

"The first instance that we realised something was wrong was when we smelt the burning oil and then there was the white smoke in the aircraft," he said.

"It didn't fill the aircraft completely up such that we couldn't see the rest of the passengers but it was enough that there was obviously a problem.

"But the main reaction was the smell of the burning oil which was quite intense."

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 20, 2000.

Here's another new one with apparently the same problem. Hmmmmm...

Newark- to-L.A. flight makes emergency landing in Nebraska

January 22, 2000 Web posted at: 2:09 p.m. EST (1909 GMT)

DALLAS (CNN) -- An American Airlines Newark-to-Los Angeles flight that landed in Lincoln, Nebraska, after smoke filled its cabin remained in Nebraska as engineers prepared to fix its engine on Saturday.

No one was injured in Friday night's emergency landing.

Flight 159 left Newark shortly after 3 p.m. Friday carrying 120 passengers and a crew of seven, said American Airlines spokesman Tim Kincaid. A warning light indicating low engine oil in the right engine and smoke in the cabin led the pilot to make the emergency landing at 7:15 p.m. (8:15 p.m. EST). There was no indication of a fire, officials said.

A second plane sent from company headquarters in Dallas-Fort Worth flew the last leg of the trip, from Lincoln to LAX, the Los Angeles airport, where passengers arrived at 2 a.m. (5 a.m. EST). They were more than seven hours late, Kincaid said.

One passenger complained that the cabin had been in turmoil before the emergency landing: passengers' eyes were burning and some were screaming, he said. Once on the ground in Lincoln, passengers were given no food or water during the five-hour stopover, he added.

"We do our best to take care of people in a case like this," said Kincaid. "Because we don't fly there (Lincoln) normally, we probably weren't able to do what we normally like to do."

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), January 22, 2000.