Definition

A fire which occurs on an aircraft outside of the cabin, for example on the wings.

Description

Fire in the air is one of the most hazardous situations that a flight crew can be faced with. A fire can lead to the catastrophic loss of that aircraft within a very short space of time. Once a wing fire has become established, it is unlikely that the crew will be able to extinguish it.

The article "Fire in the Air" deals with the subject of fire on board an aircraft, particularly hidden fires. This article considers the quite different subject of external fires, specifically wing fires, which are less common but equally as dangerous and about which there is very little guidance for crews.