Fire Warning!

by Captain Mark Conner

Photo credit: Pexels

I had flown the same executive, the number two man in our company for over a decade in many thousands of hours when one day we were on approach to Eugene, Oregon. The weather that day was typical of Oregon, rainy, dreary with a ceiling of about 600 feet and visibility of a couple of miles so we were on baseline for the ILS. With only seven or 8 miles to fly I got a fire warning from the right engine. Having seen many Falls fireworks and knowing that the Learjet 30 series had a propensity for moisture to short the fire loop, I was not surprised in this rainy weather. I discussed it with the FO and we both agreed that with no secondary indication that it was a false warning, so continued our approach. About that time, the boss from the backseat hollered what’s that red flashing light. I nonchalantly looked over him and said it says the right engines on fire. he glued his face to the window and then looked back at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders when I did, he picked his magazine up and went back to reading. The local maintenance folks were able to dry out the connector at the Nelle and a few hours later we were on to our next destination.