# Incident 19940131003279I: Boeing 737301, Buffalo, NY, January 31, 1994

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 31, 1994, 07:20 local time
- Place: Buffalo, NY
- Airport: Greater Buffalo International
- Phase of flight: Starting Engines
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: CALA
- Location: 42.8864° N, 78.8784° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Buffalo, NY, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.8864&lon=-78.8784&mi=10
- Aircraft: N39340 (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 737301
- People aboard: 5
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 15,000 total, 2,500 in this make and model, 240 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19940131003279I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: ON 1/31/94 AT 0720 EST, THE CREW OF A BOEING 737 AIRCRAFT OWNED BY CONTINENTAL AIRLINES ATTEMPTED TO START THE APU WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS PARKED AT GATE 24 AT BUFFALO, NY AIRPORT. NO PASSENGERS WERE ABOARD. THE ATTEMPTED START WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL. A SECOND START WAS ATTEMPTED WHICH WAS ALSO UNSUCCESSFUL. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SECOND ATTEMPT, THE F.O., WHO WAS OBSERVING THE START FROM OUTSIDE THE AIRCRAFT, SAW BLACK SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE APU EXHAUST PORT. HE THEN WENT TO THE COCKPIT & SAW A HIGH EGT READING BUT NO FIRE WARNING. HE THEN DISCHARGED THE APU FIRE BOTTLE & ASKED BUF TOWER TO NOTIFY BUF CFR. CFR RESPONDED & FOAMED THE REAR SECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT. FIRE WAS CAUSED BY EXCESS FUEL & WAS CONFINED TO THE INSIDE OF THE APU UNIT. CONTINENTAL MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL CLEANED THE AIRCRAFT OF THE FOAM, MEL'D THE APU & RETURNED THE AIRCRAFT TO SERVICE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT DAMAGED & NO PERSON WAS INJURED. THE PILOT HELD AN AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT CERTIFICATE. THIS INCIDENT IS CONSIDERED CLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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