# Incident 20031025026389I: Airbus A321211, San Francisco, CA, October 25, 2003

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 25, 2003, 07:02 local time
- Place: San Francisco, CA
- Airport: San Francisco International
- Phase of flight: Other Ground Ops
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: USAA
- Location: 37.6188° N, 122.3754° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SAN FRANCISCO INTL (SFO), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.6188&lon=-122.3754&mi=10
- Aircraft: N170US, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N170US) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Airbus Industrie A321-211 (registry code 3930370, https://openairdocs.org/model/airbus-industrie-a321-211) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: CFM International CFM56 series (registry code 13802, https://openairdocs.org/engine/cfm-international-cfm56-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AIRBUS A321211
- Reported engine: GE CFM56*
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20031025026389I

## Narrative

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

(-23) AFTER PUSHBACK FROM GATE 1 AN INDICATION SMOKE IN THE AFT CARGO AREA WAS REPORTED BY THE CREW. THE AIRCRAFT WAS TOWED BACK TO THE GATE AND ALL PASSENGERS WERE DEPLANED NORMALLY. IT WAS DETERMINED THE CAUSE OF THE SMOKE WAS DUE TO AN ACTUATED TOGGLE SWITCH ON A UNIT BEING SHIPPED BY ULTRA LIFT CORP. OF SAN JOSE, CA, AND THE BATTERY WAS NOT DISCONNECTED. SEVEN OF THESE UNITS WERE LOADED INTO THE AFT CARGO AREA, AND WERE STACKED IN TWO ROWS ALLOWING THE TOGGLE SWITCH TO BE ACTUATED BY AN EXPOSED METAL PLATE THAT PENETRATED THE CARD BOARD BOX THUS GENERATING AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF HEAT. THE OVERHEATING WAS EVIDENCED BY MELTED WIRES AND VISIBLE BURN MARKS LEFT BEHIND. ULTRA LIFT, THE MANUFACTURER/SHIPPER OF THE UNIT DID NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION TO AERONET WORLDWIDE, THE FREIGHT FORWARDER, ABOUT THE POWER SONIC GEL LEAD-ACID 12 VOLT, 35 AMP BATTERY INSTALLED AND CONNECTED TO THE UNIT. THE PACKAGING OF THE UNIT DID NOT DISTINGUISH A CLASS 8 CORROSIVE/DANGEROUS GOODS SHIPMENT, NOR DID THE AIR WAYBILL INDICATE SUCH.

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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