Beechjet 400
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Diverted; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
At an intermediate cruise altitude one of the passengers came to the flight deck and advised us that 'the walls are too hot to touch.' I asked my First Officer what the cabin temp setting was. He told me that it was in the manual position and the temperature selected to full cold. I asked him to don his oxygen mask and I transferred the autopilot to him. I left the flight deck to inspect the situation. I touched the walls where the ducting is located and found it too hot to leave my hand. I felt along the length of both walls and the result was the same. I advised the passengers that I was going to call Maintenance and that we were most likely to divert. I returned to the flight deck and called Dispatch and had them transfer me to Maintenance. I spoke with Maintenance and we agreed to divert to a nearby airport. I returned to pilot flying duties and advised my First Officer that we are diverting to kind. I announced our intention to ATC to which they asked for the reason. I advised that we were diverting to kind as a precaution due to uncontrolled cabin temperature. Upon descent and power reduction the passenger informed me that the temperature was turning colder. Landing was uneventful.
A BE-400XP passenger informed the crew about an extremely hot cabin sidewall and after verifying the report the Captain diverted to a nearby airport for a precautionary landing.