Up in the Air

By Bill Polits

Late Sunday night, May 16, a Boeing 757 bound from New York to Los Angeles diverted to Washington Dulles after a fire was reported in the cockpit approximately 30 minutes into the flight.

Passengers were reported to have seen flames in the cockpit when the flight crew opened the cockpit door to request fire extinguishers be brought to the front of the aircraft and smoke was reported in the first class cabin.

While official sources have yet to confirm the origin of the fire or the kind of fire extinguishers used, it is widely thought that the blaze was ignited by a defective window heater and that the fire was put out by Halon 1211 fire extinguishers.