Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian spies planted an incendiary device on a plane to Britain that later caught fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, the Guardian can reveal.
Nobody was reported injured in the fire on 22 July at a warehouse in the suburb of Minworth that handles parcels for delivery, and the blaze was dealt with by the local fire brigade and by staff.
The parcel is believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air, though it is not known if it was a cargo or passenger aircraft, nor where it was destined for. There could have been serious consequences if it had ignited during the flight.
A similar incident occurred in Germany, also in late July, when a suspect package bound for a flight caught fire at another DHL facility in Leipzig, and investigators are looking at links between the two. German authorities warned this week that had the parcel caught fire mid-air it could have downed the plane.
I thought of that, but I don’t think it’s an option. From reading about past air disasters – one of which involved depressurization of the cargo hold that turned into a cascading failure of the plane – my understanding is that the pressurized area includes both the cabin and cargo area. The plane isn’t structurally designed to depressurize the cargo area while keeping the cabin pressurized.
I read more about it after your comment and it seems I was confused, it’s not depressurization it’s cutting off the airflow to starve the fire of oxygen and release of Halon 1301, keeping it’s concentration at a certain level. At least in Boeing aircraft, I didn’t find Airbus documentation.