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Aviation safety forum a success
The forum on airport emergency and risk management held at the Singapore Aviation Academy was an interactive exchange between the speakers and the delegates. The three-day forum kicked off with a keynote address by Robin Currie, who has spent the last 40 years in the British fire service, mostly in the upper echelon. Currie addressed terrorism at airports and acknowledged from the outset that an airport is an attractive target that is vulnerable 24 hours a day. His presentation also drew many parallels between airport fire departments and the structural fire service. In his conclusion, he challenged attendees to “do your best to win what you need.”
Another highlight of the forum was a presentation by USAirways’ Captain Tom Phillips on the new doubledecker Airbus A-380. This behemoth aircraft, which will begin service in 2006, will carry up to 800 passengers. Phillips explained how the old “practical critical fire area” method of calculating extinguishing agent quantities will not be adequate for the A-380 and discussed the problems of additional evacuation slides for the upper deck. He also addressed the need for research on a new access/egress-type vehicle.
Aso on the program was Deputy Chief Lee Mui-lam of the Hong Kong Fire Service, who discussed the success of the August 1999 rescue operation at the crash of an MD-11 China Airlines flight at Hong Kong International Airport. While trying to land during a typhoon, the aircraft ended up in an inverted position, and a fire ensued. This truly extraordinary firefighting and rescue effort, which resulted in only three fatalities, was possible because of the large number of trained firefighters on duty who were strategically staged and ready for a potential emergency.
NFPA’s Mark Conroy and Captain Brian Boucher of Air Canada reviewed five more aircraft accidents and addressed the lessons they teach. Conroy discussed how disaster drills contributed to the success of emergency response activities at the 1989 crash of United Flight 232 in Sioux City Iowa and spoke about the malfunction of a tanker truck intended to resupply ARFF vehicles. He also discussed the 1990 collision of a Northwest Airline DC-9 and a B-727 in heavy fog on a Detroit runway that became a driving force behind the installation of “driver-enhanced vision systems” now common in many ARFF vehicles. Conroy then reviewed findings from the 1999 crash of an American Airlines MD-80 in Little Rock , Arkansas , and explained how the media took a little bit of information and distorted the facts to the detriment of the airport fire department.
Captain Boucher reviewed the lack of resources at the December 2000 crash of a regional jet in New Brunswick, Canada, and the great success of the ARFF services after the crash of an MD-10 cargo aircraft in Memphis, Tennessee. The presentations included hundreds of pictures from the accident scenes.
Mike Kluttz, president of Robert and Company in Atlanta, Georgia, provided a detailed review of design considerations for airport fuel hydrant systems. Of particular interest were safety features, such as the emergency fuel shutoff at each fueling station, and bonding procedures, which prevents sparks from the static charge produced as fuel flows through the piping and fuel filter/coalescer units from igniting the fuel. He explained that bonding ensures that the fueling equipment and the receiving tank on the aircraft are at the same potential.
Four speakers addressed hangar fire protection. Jim Doctorman of Boeing set the stage by describing Boeing’s protection scheme, which includes water-only sprinklers for hangars housing unfueled aircraft and foam systems in hangars with fueled aircraft. Joshua Jones of the U.S. Navy addressed the development of foam nozzles used in trench drains to apply foam from below, precluding damage from unwanted discharges from traditional foam systems. Joe Seo of ABL Lim/Hughes Associates provided an example of this new technology, which was recently installed at the Singapore airport. Delegates were invited to tour the hangar on the third day of the conference.
Not to be outdone, Dennis Kennedy of Tyco addressed the use of high-expansion foam in hangars, explaining that NFPA 409, Aircraft Hangars, considers a high-expansion foam system to be equivalent to low expansion foam. Kennedy also gave detailed insights on firefighting foam technologies.
Bernard Valois of Transport Canada provided an overview of technological advances in ARFF vehicles, including encapsulating dry chemical in the foam stream, automatic leveling of turret nozzles, low-level-application advances for delivering foam, and flat-pattern nozzle delivery systems.
Patrick Lam of CPG Consultants in Singapore reviewed the design of an airport terminal and the risk-assessment approach used to develop the building’s fire protection features.
Cletus Packiam then addressed the risk-management approach to emergency response at airports. This approach entails eliminating, isolating, or minimizing risk wherever possible; developing alternate courses of action; and being aware of the existence of risk if no action can be taken. He also addressed assessing, analysing, and handling risk by management.
Finally, Dr. Adrian Wang discussed the importance of critical stress management, noting that there is no clear consensus whether critical stress debriefings are necessary for all who are involved in a critical incident. Although he acknowledged that everyone is affected by exposure to a disaster, he said that no definitive treatment plan exists. He also explained how to identify abnormal reactions to a crisis and courses of action to consider.
At the conclusion of the forum, the organizers held a wrap-up meeting and decided to hold another forum at the academy in two years.
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
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