Airline cockpit fire prompts emergency landing

WASHINGTON - Investigators are looking into whether long-known problems with the heating system in a cockpit window of the Boeing 757 played a role in a fire that forced an airliner that took off from Kennedy Airport to make an emergency landing near Washington, federal safety officials said Monday.

United Airlines Flight 27 en route to Los Angeles with 112 people aboard made an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Sunday night due to a cockpit fire, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The fire was extinguished before the plane landed and no injuries were reported, FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said.

Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the board has dispatched three investigators to examine the cockpit in an effort to determine the cause of the fire.

"We haven't narrowed down what the issues are with this incident yet," Holloway said. However, he added that the board will be investigating whether the cause of the fire was due to "a recurring problem" involved in previous 757 cockpit fires, or a new issue.

The board recommended to the FAA in 2007 that airlines be required to replace the windshield heat terminal blocks on all Boeing 747s, 757s, 767s and 777s. The FAA proposed a rule in March 2008 that gave airlines a choice of regularly inspecting the heat terminal blocks on 757s, 767s and 777s or replacing the terminal blocks. Boeing 747s were not included in the proposed order.

However, FAA records show airlines strongly criticized the proposal and it hasn't been made final. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the rule is expected to become final in August.