Aviation Rescue and Firefighting - Case Study Example

Aviation Rescue and Firefighting Introduction: Aviation Rescue and Firefighting has come a long way since its early days that consisted essentially of an auxiliary firefighting team with the core responsibility of putting fires out in case of a fire incident at the time of landing or take off. Role change came about with the realization that just by putting out fires the safety of passengers on board aircraft that were involved in an incident was not ensured. Sophistication came about with the increased use of air transport and the use of larger aircraft capable of carrying large numbers of passengers. Technological advances have allowed Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting to meet the challenges that have come about with its primary function of rescuing passengers and the growing use of air transportation and larger aircraft. Overview: Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is unique in its function as at a time of an air crash the members of the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting team face the intense challenge of rescuing a possible of more than 400 passengers from within the aircraft, whose length could extend to ninety meters and a width of five meters. Starting with normal firefighting equipment and volunteers immediately after the Second World War, Aviation Rescue and Firefighting has taken giant strides to keep with the technological advancements that have caused air transportation to transform dramatically and the size of aircraft also to grow to very large extents. The job function calls for highly trained and skilled personnel operating with sophisticated firefighting and rescue equipment. (Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting Index). Tactics and Techniques: The main objective of Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is to save the life of the entrapped passengers from the burning aircraft and the protection of aircraft and surrounding buildings and vehicle remain a secondary objective at the time of an aircraft accident or incident. The fire hazard is extremely high and all times the need for extinguishing fires has to be at the forefront of the activities of the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting. Fires may happen when aircraft land and take off, or during an accident or when rescue operation are put into place. The rupture of the fuel tanks of the aircraft could lead to spillage of highly volatile and inflammable aviation fuels and other liquids used by aircrafts. The aviation fuel and inflammable liquids could easily burst into flames by coming in contact with hot metal parts of the aircraft, sparks caused by moving parts of the aircraft or from disruption of the electrical circuits present in the aircraft. A characteristic feature of fires as a result of this and which Aviation Rescue and Firefighting has to deal with is the tendency to reach lethal intensity in a very brief period of time. This poses a severe risk to the personnel involved in the rescue and firefighting, and causes handicaps to the rescue and firefighting efforts. Thus the tactics and techniques utilized are well planned to take into consideration these aspects as well as the primary objective of rescuing the passengers. (AIRPORT RESCUE AND FIREFIGHTING SERVICE REQUIREMENTS). At a crash site the first action taken by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is to protect the fuselage, as the passengers to be protected are located in the fuselage. For this purpose initially a protective foam blanket is sprayed over the fuselage, with the help of a monitor. Hand lines are also laid out simultaneously and once the hand lines have been deployed the spraying of the foam blanket over the fuselage is taken over by the personnel handling the hand lines. The hand lines offer a more judicious and use of the foam and water over the monitor, which utilizes foam and water at a very high rate. Once the fuselage has been protected the next target for protection are the exit points of the aircraft, through which the passengers have to be evacuated. This is executed by topping up the foam blanket that is already on the fuselage. In addition any fuel spills are covered with foam blankets and all fires are extinguished. It is essential to extinguish all fires to allow for the passengers that are capable of moving on their own to be evacuated from the aircraft to allow entry of the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting personnel. The firefighters don breathing masks, and enters the aircraft to extinguish any fires that may be present in the cabins, and to evacuate passengers that mat be trapped inside or have been overcome by the smoke of the fires or toxic fumes. The fire fighters carefully note the points from which casualties have been recovered, as well as any objects that they may have shifted in their fire extinguishing and evacuation actions. This is done so that it provides assistance to the air accident investigation. The evacuated passengers are taken to places of safety where it is possible for the first aid personnel, nurses and doctors, who would have arrived by then to take care of them and provide the necessary medical attention. Support for the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting efforts comes from the local fire service departments through the provision of additional water supplies, and assistance in fighting the spread of fires. (Aviation Firefighting). Studies of aircraft accidents with both external and internal fires have shown that external fires are effectively contained, but fires within the fuselage of the aircraft are difficult to control with the available equipment. The presence of large amounts of smoke and toxic gases within the passenger cabin, coupled with the intense heat generated by the fires cause delays in the evacuation of passengers, and pose a severe threat to the safety of the passengers that attempt to exit the aircraft on their own, and the passengers that are evacuated by the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting personnel. The Aviation Rescue and Firefighting personnel themselves are at tremendous risk as they attempt to extinguish the fires within the aircraft with hand held lines and evacuate the passengers. To increase the chances of passengers surviving fires that result from crashing of aircrafts or aircraft incidents is the objective of both the Aviation Rescue and Firefighting, and the Federal Aviation Administration. In support of this objective the Federal Aviation Administration through the Airport Improvement Program gives financial assistance to those airports that have received their certification, to enable the purchasing of heavy rescue and firefighting equipment, to make the role of Aviation Rescue and Firefighting more effective. In addition the Federal Aviation Administration through its own research and development into fire fighting, aims at development of equipment and techniques that would go a long way in seeing that Aviation Rescue and Firefighting performs its role at airports during aircraft crashes or aircraft incidents in a more efficient manner with the minimal of risk to the personnel of Aviation Rescue and Firefighting. (Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting Technology). Airport Classification: Airports have been classified into categories on a scale of one to ten. The categorizing has been done on the basis of the largest size of the aircraft that is normally catered to at the airport. The biggest airports seen around the world have a category of nine, and with the arrival of much larger double-decker aircraft capable of carrying even more passengers many of these airports are likely to move up to category ten. The airports have been categorized so that standards can be laid down for emergency services including Aviation Rescue and Firefighting for airports. In the case of Aviation Rescue and Firefighting the standards include the availability of the minimum number of fire appliances, minimum performance levels of the available appliances, crewing numbers, training for Aviation Rescue and Firefighting personnel, amount of foam and water, amount of other fire-extinguishing agents, rescue equipment to be carried by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting, emergency access routes, and extra water supplies. Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is responsible for ensuring that the airports meet these standards at all times. In the event that these standards cannot be met for some reason or the other, it is the duty of Aviation Rescue and Firefighting to ensure that larger aircraft are diverted to airports with the adequate emergency services to handle them. It is only in the case of an emergency that aircraft larger than the category that has been assigned to the airport are allowed to land at the airport, despite the lack of adequate emergency services. (Aviation Firefighting). Demands on Aviation Rescue and Firefighting: The quick manner in which a fire can engulf an aircraft calls for quick response from Aviation Rescue and Firefighting in times of emergencies. This is made clear from experiences whereby fires can spread from the wing across the aluminum skin and into the interior of the aircraft within a minute. Thus the response time laid down for Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is two minutes and not exceeding three minutes to any part of the aircraft movement area in the airport, when visibility and surface conditions are optimum, and when required to discharge foam at rate of fifty percent of the maximum discharge rate of the equipment available. This puts the demand on Aviation Rescue and Firefighting to be at the site of the crash or incident, and pumping foam within two minutes from receiving the emergency call. This calls for special vehicles and equipment capable of reaching the site of the incident or crash quickly and deploying on almost immediate basis. (Aviation Firefighting). Vehicles and Appliances Used by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting: Aviation Rescue and Firefighting at airports around the world, use different makes of vehicles to ensure their response time to an emergency call. Vehicles with 1,000 hp that are capable of accelerating from 0-50 mph in less than half a minute are available. Vehicles and equipment used at El Paso airport give an indication of the equipment and vehicles used by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting. There are four firefighting vehicles capable of carrying different varying amounts of foam, water and different kinds of fire extinguishing agents and different means of delivery of foam and fire extinguishing agents. One of the commonly used means of delivery is the snozzle, which allows the vehicle to apply water foam and fire extinguishing agents from differing heights, without exposing Aviation Rescue and Firefighting personnel to risks from hazardous cargo, and the intense heat that is generated from the fires in an aircraft incident. There is a piercing nozzle attached to the snozzle that is capable of puncturing the aluminum skin of the aircraft, so that extinguishing agents can be expelled into the interior of the aircraft. A thermal imager is also used and this allows location of the source of fire inside the aircraft to enable precision application of the extinguishing agent on to the fire. (Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting). Equipment Carried by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting: For the delivery of foam, water and extinguishing agents, standard 70mm and 45mm hoses are carried. Foam branches are carried to lay down foam over fuel spillages. A foam monitor with a capacity of 4540litre/min at 10-15 Bar is also carried. For fire extinguishing purpose water up to 32,000 liters is carried, with the quantity dependant on the category of the airport. The two types of foam commonly employed by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting are Film-Forming Flouro-protein (FFFP) and Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF). Both these types are mixed with water at a particular ratio to give finished foam. There are three secondary fire-fighting agents are also employed by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting, which are Dry Chemical Powder, Carbon dioxide, and Halon 1211. Halon is a powerful fir-fighting agent, but because of the affect on the ozone layer its use is gradually being discontinued. A suitable replacement is yet to become available for use. There are several different types and sizes of ladders that are carried by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting. These include a special wide Aircraft Rescue Ladder that has the advantage of allowing to people to pass each other without having to step off the ladder. Breathing apparatus is also carried as a protection against smoke and toxic fumes. There are rule that govern the use of breathing apparatus, which includes proper training in its use. Hand tools, axes, harness cutters, chocks ropes, pneumatic lifting bags, and hydraulic and pneumatic cutting gear are some of the other equipment carried by Aviation Rescue and Firefighting. A loud hailer is also employed to guide passengers during evacuation. (Aviation Firefighting). Conclusion: Aviation Rescue and Firefighting carries out a very critical emergency service at airports that is necessary, keeping in view the growth of air transportation and the larger aircraft that are employed, to provide for rescue of passengers in case of an air incident or air crash. Literary References Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting. ELPASO FIRE. Retrieved April 27, 2006. Web site: http://www.ci.el-paso.tx.us/fire/aircraft.asp. Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting Technology. The Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved April 27, 2006. Web site: http://www.airporttech.tc.faa.gov/safety/resfire.asp. Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting Index. Retrieved April 27, 2006. Web site: http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Index%20rescue%20&%20fire%20fighting.htm. AIRPORT RESCUE AND FIREFIGHTING SERVICE REQUIREMENTS. 2004. Retrieved April 27, 2006. Web site: http://www.emergency-management.net/pdf/AirportEmergencyPlanAC_150_5200_31_A.pdf. Aviation Firefighting. fireservice. Retrieved April 27, 2006. Web site: http://www.fireservice.co.uk/articles/aviation.php. Read More