Thu, Oct 07, 2004
Rules Poor Response In 1996 Fire Cost A Dozen Lives
Far from helping protect passengers and flight crews in the
event of an emergency, the FAA's rules governing on-airport
firefighters and their equipment are inadequate and, in at least
one case, led to the deaths of 12 people aboard a flight that
caught fire while on the ground.
That's the word in an email from the Airport Rescue and
Firefighting Requirements Working Group, obtained by a reporter
with USA Today. The panel was set to make its findings public on
Wednesday. The group, created by the FAA and comprised of
firefighters, airport executives and union leaders, was originally
tasked with making recommendations for improving firefighting on
the field. Their findings carry no legal weight, according to USA
Today, but they do have the collective ear of the FAA.
Firefighting safety and effectiveness have long been scrutinized
in NTSB accident reports. In 1996, the safety board cited poor fire
response as a factor in a fire aboard a United Express aircraft in
Quincy (IL) that killed 12 people. Three years later, the NTSB also
found deficiencies in the firefighter response to an accident
involving an American Airlines MD-82 that landed extremely hard in
a thunderstorm.
Among the recommendations reportedly to be announced Wednesday
by the Airport Rescue and Firefighting Requirements Working Group
were:
Stricter regulations on the number of airport fire trucks and
the amount of foam they carry
Amending firefighters' missions to include actually rescuing
passengers from a burning aircraft. Right now, the rules say
firefighters must merely clear a path for evacuating
passengers.
Requiring airports to conduct studies on the number of
firefighters actually needed on the field.
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