Airbus 318/319/320/321 Undifferentiated
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
I was working the Local Control East position when I heard our on-duty TMC commenting on smoke coming from one of the ramps. My position in the Tower gave me a good overview of the area in question and I took a look for myself. I saw an alarmingly large volume of smoke coming from the back (APU area) of a narrow-body Airbus. I felt strongly enough about it that I voiced my concern directly to the FLM who was also looking at what was happening. I said something along the lines of it's 'worth looking into'. The FLM's response was that the situation was 'worth the company looking into' suggesting it was a company problem and not ours; dismissing my comment and reacting as if I had annoyed him. Not only did the FLM not want to get involved; but he assumed that: A. the situation was not serious enough to warrant any effort on his part. B. the aircraft crew and/or ramp personnel were aware of the issue. It would have taken the FLM little effort to both call emergency services and ask company if they were aware of the situation and had it under control; but he instead dismissed me to show both his superiority and to save himself some effort. Although I have been with the agency for a short time; I have worked around aircraft for about many years and I think I have a pretty good idea of when something is awry with an aircraft. Within a couple minutes of voicing my concern to the FLM; the subject aircraft called the Ground Controller asking for emergency assistance as the cabin was full of passengers and filling with smoke. The aircraft was subsequently evacuated and I do not know if there were any injuries - at the least there were probably a lot of scared people being rushed out of an airplane. I later learned that the APU had malfunctioned and was extinguished by the aircraft crew. I do not know if the crew had been aware of the developing problem or if their first indication of something wrong was the aircraft filling up with smoke. If the FLM had not dismissed my safety concerns; the crew may have been able to resolve the APU issue before it became so critical and emergency services would have arrived on the scene sooner. I can only imagine what would have happened if the FLM had dismissed my concerns and an APU fire had spread. Do not allow the agency to have FLMs with attitude issues that affect safety. See something - say something - get overruled by some one's ego...the system doesn't work as it should when someone - especially in a position of authority - refuses to play and thinks they are always right.
Tower Controller witnessing smoke emitting from an Air Carrier at the gate informed the Supervisor who indicted the aircraft company should be handling the problem; the subject aircraft then called for emergency assistance.