Birds, Clouds and Fire part 3

"I can smell something burning!" shouted the passenger behind me over the noise of the engine. We had just taken off from Marsabit and were about 200ft off the deck. A few seconds earlier I had smelled the same thing, and was already scanning the guages and looking around inside and outside the cockpit for any sign that something wasn't right. I briefly smiled an unconvincing half-smile over my shoulder and calmly told the passenger that I could smell it too, as I tried to channel my adrenaline surge into working out what was going on rather than panicking....

The day had started well, with a very clear and pleasant flight on my own from Wilson Airport to Sololo, a small town right on the Ethiopean border, a good 2.5 hrs from Nairobi. I had been able to climb to 10,000ft and had a great view of the Eastern slopes of Mount Kenya as I passed by. As usual the three peaks were in cloud.

After picking up three passengers and their bags from Sololo, we flew south to Marsabit for fuel, as I had not been able to carry round-trip fuel due to the payload. The passengers in question had been facilitating a training course for rural pastors, in this remote border region. They were in good spirits and were happy for a short comfort stop to stretch their legs in Marsabit while I took on fuel.

All preflight checks done and all systems normal as we taxied out, turned at the end of the runway and increased power for take-off. The wind in Marsabit is often stiff (20kts+) but usually mostly a headwind, so despite being close to gross weight, we lifted off in no time and were climbing quite nicely as the unwanted aroma started to fill the cabin. Obviously an aircraft fire of any sort is an emergency of the first order. The three main likely fires one can experience in a light aircraft are an engine fire, an electrical fire or a wing fire (where the fuel is stored).

Something didn't make sense though. Sticking my head upwards and to the left allowed me to get a good sniff of the air coming through the outside air vent (as shown in the picture on the right), and sure enough, the smell was stronger. So that indicated that the fire was outside, rather than in the cabin. And it was unmistakably that of a wood fire, which was also encouraging because apart from my head there is nothing wooden in the aircraft.

After a few seconds more, in the words of Inspector Clouseau, "the mystery was solve-ed" as a reasonably large fire came into view on the ground, with a smoke trail gently rising into our flight path.

The whole escapade had lasted maybe 10 seconds, although as with many incidents like this it felt much longer. I showed the passengers the cause of the smell, and everyone relaxed. Within 5 minutes they were all asleep.