KLM MD-11 - Lower Cargo Fire Extinguishing

MD-11 Flight Crew Operations Manual
k
Fire Protection -
Description and Operation
Fire.10.8
When smoke or heat is detected in the cargo compartment, heating and ventilation
of that compartment will automatically shut off and the respective cargo flow
DISAG light on the CARGO FIRE control panel will illuminate. The auto shutoff
of heating and ventilation continues as long as the smoke signal exists. Once the
smoke stops, the MSC will return the cargo heating and ventilation to normal
operation. Pushing the DISAG/OFF switch will illuminate the OFF light, and
prevent automatic restoration of the heating and ventilation without pilot
intervention. Turning FWD/AFT CARGO HEAT selector to OFF prevents
automatic restoration of heating without pilot intervention.
The cargo fire detection and extinguishing system is automatically tested when the
first of 3 IRUs is turned on. It is manually tested with the CARGO FIRE
MANUAL TEST switch on the CARGO FIRE control panel.
Any failure in the system will cause a CRG FIRE TST FAIL alert to be displayed.
If the alert MSC AUTO FAIL appears on the status page of the SD, a manual cargo
fire test must be performed.
The air synoptic on the SD informs the flight crew of specific failures in the
systems. For a description of the air synoptic refer to the Air chapter.
Lower Cargo Fire Extinguishing
The cargo fire extinguishing system is a chemical (Halon 1301) discharge system
used to extinguish fires in the lower class C cargo compartments.
Each extinguishing system consists of two different sized, stainless steel, agent
bottles, discharge head(s), discharge cartridge(s) with electrical connector(s), low
pressure switch agent distribution system, cockpit controls and warning lights.
The normal discharge time prior to the LOW light illumination on the CARGO
FIRE control panel is about 28 seconds for bottle 1 and about 15 seconds for bottle
2.
Agent discharge is not automatic. The primary discharge is initiated manually by
the flight crew upon fire indication. The second bottle is discharged by the fight
crew into the lower cargo compartment after 90 minutes.
Agent from the fire extinguishing bottles is discharged into the appropriate cargo
compartment (fwd or aft) when the corresponding AGENT DISCH switch on the
CARGO FIRE control panel is pushed.
When heat and/or smoke is detected in a forward or aft cargo compartment the
appropriate AGENT 1 light on the CARGO FIRE control panel will flash to
indicate the proper agent to discharge. The DISCH CARGO AGENT alert will be
displayed on the EAD. The AGENT 2 light will flash immediately if AGENT 1
LOW light was illuminated due to a low pressure condition.
October 02, 2006