Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Total 17000
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
At approximately 16;000 FT the 'Tail Comp Temp High' light illuminated. We accomplished the memory items; requested a return to [the airport] with ATC; completed the Tail Compartment Temperature High Checklist; overweight landing checklist; reviewed the RLW [Regulatory Landing Weight] and CLW [Certified Landing Weight]; advised the flight attendants; completed all normal checklists and landed uneventfully. ATC originally asked if we wanted to declare an emergency. I told them we had a warning light and requested a return to [the airport]. Even this simple request required 3 calls. While flying and dealing with both ATC and now a pressurization flow light; which I believe was directly attributable to the found leak and loose clamps in the High Pressure Pneumatics System. After the initial turn to go back to [the airport] they asked a second time if we wanted to declare an emergency; this about 3 minutes later. I told them that the Captain was VERY BUSY running the checklist to try and put out the light. I told them as soon as the Captain and I were in a position to make that call we would tell them of our official request for either declaring or not declaring an emergency. About 4-5 minutes into the procedure; and after we were on about a 25 mile final; the Captain got on the radio and told them we wanted to declare an emergency. That he wanted the fire equipment to be ready; and that the warning light had just gone out. We were back on the ground approximately 11 minutes after first encountering the warning light. The warning light extinguished after approximately 2 minutes following the checklist procedures. When we switched to Tower; the Captain confirmed that we wanted to declare an emergency and that he wanted fire trucks and also advised that the light had extinguished and the trucks were a precaution. There was some difficulty with the language which was outside the normal day to day ATC communication. In fact; the Tower asked us a question about half way to parking. We both looked at each other and asked what she had said. Neither of us understood what she had asked and we still weren't completely done with this emergency yet. So I said 'we have 142 people on board and 28;000 LBS of fuel; is that what you wanted to know?' And that was the end of the conversation. So we assumed that was taken care of. After landing we parked at a hardstand and shut down all engines. Now; there is No APU; because of the high temperature warning light; and the pneumatic cross-feeds are also closed; as to prevent exacerbating the problem. Of course the ground GPU didn't work. Now we're on a hardstand with NO Power. So getting anything accomplished after shutting down the engines was a very BIG chore given the situation and language barrier. We requested that the aft stairs be dropped and the fire crew to inspect the area with company personnel. We deplaned the passengers via the forward door onto buses. The local authorities expressed concern that they would have liked to know more about the emergency and our needs prior to landing. Again it took approximately 11 minutes from warning light to touchdown. I believe we handled this whole situation with great skill and CRM. If there was any shortfall; it was the communication gap between us and ATC. And I don't think it had any direct outcome of the situation on the whole. It seemed as though ATC wanted a running commentary at times; which we were too busy to do. Fly the airplane first (pilot flying; i.e. ME). Take care of the QRH Warning next (pilot not flying; i.e. Captain).
MD80 First Officer reports a 'Tail Comp Temp High' light climbing out of 16;000 FT. The crew elects to return to the departure airport and experiences some language difficulties with the basic English capabilities of the foreign controllers.