Given the right set of circumstances, any fire department in the United States could be confronted with an aircraft emergency on or off airport property that would tax immediate resources, which is why every firefighter should be trained in aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF).
ARFF is a highly specialized field. There are specific hazards associated with aircraft emergencies; however, you can apply many of your structural firefighting skills to these emergencies, and the incident priorities never change. The tips below provide vital information all firefighters can use when faced with an aircraft emergency.
- Consider the scene when positioning apparatus. Your three priorities when determining apparatus placement at an aviation emergency are life safety, fire activity and wind direction.
- Know your fuel types, and be aware of the hazard large quantities of fuel can pose during an aircraft incident. There are basically two different types of aviation fuel: jet fuel (Jet A, B, etc.) and aviation gas (Av Gas). As you conduct your size up, look for indicators of fuel type. Jet engine fuel will present different challenges than fuel that runs piston-driven engines. Even if there hasn’t been a breach in the fuel tank or storage system, heat and direct flame impingement to fuel systems could quickly lead to an exponential increase in the magnitude of your incident if the fuel becomes uncontained.
- When developing your attack strategy, first determine if you’re dealing with a high- or low-impact crash. In the case of a high-impact crash, passenger viability may not be probable, and in this case, containment and exposure protection are your priorities. If you’re dealing with a low-impact crash, protect the means of passenger egress. If deplaning has not been initiated, and a post-crash fuel fire has developed, cooling and protecting the fuselage is paramount.
- If the fire has breached the fuselage, extinguish ground fires and get interior. If it’s impinging on the aircraft, protect it as you would any critical exposure. Avoid pushing the fire and fuel into the aircraft, and stay upwind whenever possible.
- If the aircraft is still intact, fuel is still contained, and there is no immediate fire hazard, determine the status of the engine. Is it running? If the engine is on fire, determine whether the pilot has deployed the on-board extinguishing agent into the engine. If they have, this will automatically shut the engine down and, hopefully, impact the fire condition.
- When approaching an aircraft with an engine fire, consider approaching from a right angle. In other words, do not walk in front or behind the engine unless you are 100 percent certain it’s no longer operating.
- Due to the construction of a jet engine, you’ll probably need to open the cowling, which protects the engine like a hood does on a car, to extinguish the blaze. Before opening the cowling, spray water directly into the front or back of the engine, then assess its effectiveness to determine if you need to access the interior of the engine itself.
- Water, foam or some kind of clean agent works best for extinguishment. In the case of a fuel-fed fire, dry-chemical or dry-powder agents are effective. Halon or Halotron are useful if you have access to them, and the wind and accessibility allow their use.
- If the engine is mounted on the wing, you must treat that wing like the very critical hazard that it is. Cool and try to prevent direct flame impingement on those fuel tanks to help preserve their integrity.
- In the case of a wheel fire, approach from the rubber side, not the rim side, of the wheel. Aircraft tires are equipped with a heat-sensitive plug. When a tire reaches a certain elevated temperature, there is the potential for the plug to blow and the tire to deflate. In some cases, remnants from the plug will shoot out from the tire at a 90-degree angle to the side wall. To avoid this and other possible debris, firefighters should approach the wheels from the nose or tail of the plane and use intermittent spurts of water, if that’s your agent of choice.
- Before opening the cabin door, be aware of the emergency slides. Flight attendants usually arm them once the aircraft door is closed. When armed, the slide will deploy when the door is opened. Deployment is rapid, and the slide is generally wider than the door itself. If you have a ladder placed just to the side of an armed door, the slide will likely knock it over upon deployment. In some cases, opening doors from the outside disarms the slide.
- The cabin door can also present a hazard. Some cabin doors operate with a pneumatic assist system. In other words, once you’re initiated opening the door, it may open itself much more quickly than you anticipate. So when opening, try to stay clear of the doors on the latch side.
