NTSB: Cockpit fire concentrated in window heater

By JOAN LOWY Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Investigators say a cockpit fire that forced a United Airlines flight to make an emergency landing was concentrated in a piece of window-heating equipment that was the subject of a safety warning three years ago.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday that two fire extinguishers were required to put out the fire aboard Flight 27 Sunday night. The Boeing 757 was en route from New York to Los Angeles with 112 people aboard when the fire broke out, forcing a landing at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

No one was injured. Passengers said they could see flames when the captain opened the cockpit door.

NTSB warned in 2007 that connection between the power wires and the windshield heating elements in the 757 had been the source of fires.