Originally Posted by
NewportGuy
What about cockpit warnings? Shouldn't the pilots have known about a possible fire before a plane behind them did?
If it is "torching" or excess fuel burning as it exits with the exhaust then there is no indication. Not much different from an afterburner expect the afterburner is intentional and through a nozzle so as to produce additional thrust. It would be a very temporary condition.
If there is a fire within the engine nacelle then it is detected by heat sensing detector loops and can be extinguished by cutting off all fuel, hydraulic fluid, and pneumatic pressure to the nacelle and flooding the nacelle with Halon.
Once again, there's nowhere near enough information to say what might have happened on this flight. I'm just talking about the only things that the limited descriptions posted might suggest. It was probably something very different.