K4636 - Incident: Kalitta B744 near Saskatoon on Dec 15th 2022

A Kalitta Air Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration N744CK performing flight K4-636 from Cincinnati,KY to Anchorage,AK (USA) with 7 crew, was enroute at FL340 about 200nm northeast of Saskatoon,SK (Canada) when the crew decided to divert to Saskatoon reporting a forward cargo hold fire indication. The aircraft rapidly descended to 10,000 feet and landed on Saskatoon's runway 27 about 32 minutes after leaving FL340. The crew requested emergency services to specifically look at the right hand side of the aircraft. Subsequently the aircraft vacated the runway and taxied to the apron on its own power.

The airport reported a sensor went off inside the aircraft suggesting a possible fire on board. The fire suppression system activated. It is unclear however, whether or not it was a false alarm.

The Canadian TSB is looking into the occurrence.

On Dec 22nd 2022 the TSB reported, that the crew received multiple status messages Cargo FWD 1 and Cargo FWD 2, fire protection loops A and B. The EICAS subsequently displayed a FIRE FWD Cargo warning together with the audible fire bell and a Master Warning. The crew completed the fire drill and discharged the fire suppression system into the forward cargo compartment. The crew declared emergency and initially intended to divert to Cold Lake,AB (Canada), upon ATC advisory that Saskatoon was closer, the crew agreed and set course for Saskatoon. Enroute to Saskatoon the crew dumped fuel and landed safely in Saskatoon. Emergency services did not find any heat sources using thermal sensors and the aircraft taxied to the apron. After the crew had disembarked, the cargo department was opened, the discharge of fire suppression was confirmed however no damage detected. Maintenance subsequently detected a fault in the fire suppression system due to AFOLTS cards shorted due to water damage. The cards were replaced.