Com-Central.net

Did you know you can get a Super 80 from 10,000'+ onto the runway in eight minutes?! While having flown away from the airport for some 10 minutes? Happened to me today on AA1439 ten minutes into the flight from DFW when we suddenly had smoke in the cabin/cockpit and declared an emergency.
Man, they can get those suckers down in a jiffy when properly motivated (and traffic cleared from your runway). I bet the neighbors wondered what was up with the low and unusual approach! We came in and turned low over residential areas on a non-standard approach. Stopped on the runway, greeted by fire engines, and sat there (no evacuation as the smoke was dissappating during decent) while they looked us over from outside....then, to the gate, where the plane was deadlined by maintenence and we got a new one.

Proable cause: Oil from APU leaking onto hot ducting that got sucked into cabin during ascent (they suck hard going up, pressurizing). The crew and passengers were great...very calm. This is not the sort of thing you want to happen at 31,000' over Arizona, if ya' knowhutImean....

HOLY CRIPES! Yep, that's amazing!!!!

Hey man,...DFW?!?! Scheiss, I just missed ya by a few hours, just got in from there and landed at Dulles an hour and a half ago...MD-80, no problems except too much ice in my drink!

That's some pretty good detail on the problem, since usually they get a little closed-mouth to the pax about it....howdya get the detail on the probable cause?

Oh and...welcome home DUDE!!!

- JG300-Stoopy

HOLY CRIPES! Yep, that's amazing!!!!

Hey man,...DFW?!?! Scheiss, I just missed ya by a few hours, just got in from there and landed at Dulles an hour and a half ago...MD-80, no problems except too much ice in my drink!

That's some pretty good detail on the problem, since usually they get a little closed-mouth to the pax about it....howdya get the detail on the probable cause?

Oh and...welcome home DUDE!!!

Cuz' we got the same crew over to the new air-o-plane. Mainentenence had come aboard before we deplaned and debriefed and discussed with the crew as well before deplaning from the broken one, and I was seated up front.
Apparently, smoke from APU's is not that unsusual, but its generally not so thick as to cause alarm or even be noticed. The cabin is really sucking air for the first few minutes after takoff, so it gets charged with anything in the vicinity of it's intakes. It had virtually cleared in the course of the descent.