Aviation Safety - Fire Issues

Aviation Safety - Fire Issues

Fire issues in aviation have long been a problem as those that work with them look for new and better ways to make aviation safer for all. This is not always easy, however, as there are only certain types of chemicals and other items that can be used in aviation due to the nature of the field. Because of this, discussing what should be used and why when it comes to fire safety and fire issues is often of the utmost importance for the aviation industry and those that create products for it.

The main problem with this issue is that fire issues are something that must be dealt with in a specific way when it comes to aviation due to the complex nature of the field. For fire issues, much study must be done into what is acceptable because weight, size, and other factors play a part in airliners. Since this is something that is so complex and requires much thought, it has been studied for many years. Even through this study, however, not everything that might be problematic has been addressed and ironed out. In addition to this, new and better ideas are always being found, and therefore ideas and beliefs are being changed regarding what can be used in aviation where fire issues are concerned.

The main purpose of this paper is to show what the most important fire issue is in aviation and how it is handled. In addition, the paper will compare the ways that the specific fire issue is handled and what way is likely seen to be the best. This is important, because most problems or issues have several different ways that they are handled and some of these ways work much better than other ways do. Therefore, all of the ways that a specific issue is addressed should be discussed and the way that is the best should be utilized to make aviation better and safer where fire issues are concerned.

The scope of this paper will be relatively narrow. Although other fire issues may be briefly mentioned, the general focus will be on insulation and other fire-retardant measures in cabin safety and what kind of changes these have undergone throughout aviation. This is significant because aviation has changed throughout the years and the fire safety items that are needed have also changed as the times have demanded. Some of these changes have been better than others, but they have all been necessary for the safety and security of passengers and crew in everything from light planes to large commercial aircraft.

One of the main concerns is that the insulation that is used has a plastic coating. This coating can actually spread fires, and the FAA actually thinks that all of this insulation should be replaced in airplanes on a worldwide basis (Knutson, 1998). The safety standards for fire must be stronger and the changes must be implemented if those that fly aircraft are to be the safest that they can be. There are enough issues that can go wrong with aircraft without seeing fire as another major worry, and any problems that can be curtailed will make those that pilot aircraft and those that fly on them as passengers feel much more comfortable. There have not been injuries of fatalities that have been associated with this plastic coating on the insulation, so there is no immediate and widespread danger, but there is still the potential for problems, and this is what has the aviation industry concerned (Knutson, 1998).

This is an understandable concern. It is encouraging that there have not yet been problems, but when the potential is there it is something that produces another area of worry for the airline industry. There are two other insulations that are being considered. One is fiberglass and the other is called Curlon. Both of these show that they have a very strong heat resistance when they are wrapped with a film made of polyimide (Knutson, 1998). The idea of using this will be very costly, although there has not been a final and official cost estimate made. Instead, there is only the idea that the cost might deter the airline industry from changing over to these different types of insulation when there is no concrete evidence that the material that is currently used is actually causing any type of problem. However, if there were to be a problem related to the insulation that is currently used it would be likely that many lawsuits would follow, and therefore the issue is one that should be carefully considered.

This insulation is an area of worry, and this is particularly true in the cabins of airliners. In order to help improve cabin safety in other ways, the seat fabrics of airliners are also being examined and called into question. The main reason for this is that the seat fabrics that are used on airliners were not originally fire resistant (McSweeny, 1999). In 1987 the FAA insisted that the seat fabrics be changed and the seats themselves be made stronger in order to help protect people as much as possible should a fire break out in the air or should the plane catch fire during a crash or an emergency landing.

Smoke detectors and floor lighting, as well as other safety measures, have also been implemented by the FAA in order to keep people safer when they fly. The insulation in the cabins, however, is still the same, and is still a concern. Despite this, however, the safer seat fabrics and other items that have been placed into airliners do make flying safer. The seat fabrics themselves are especially important, as they can allow for precious extra minutes where planes that are on the ground have a chance to evacuate the passengers, which could ultimately save many lives (McSweeny, 1999).

One of the strongest dangers for fire, however, is hidden. The wiring that is in the cabin and in the cockpit can short-circuit or have other problems and start fires that will not necessarily be realized until they have already done damage and posed a significant danger for the passengers and the crew. One of the ways that this can be avoided is to install 'arc sensing' circuit breakers, which are sometimes also called 'ticking fault' circuit breakers (Adams, 1999). These are designed to 'pop' when there is a problem detected, shutting off the electrical power to the area that could be shorting out. These are required in all new buildings that are built in the United States and likely in many other countries as well, but they are not required on airliners. If they were, they could stop some of the problems that start to take place with wiring in airplanes before they actually become dangerous. These could prevent fires, and also help the fires that do occasionally get started to be more contained more quickly and therefore cause fewer problems for passengers and crew.

Even though many people focus their attention on the cabin, and this is certainly a very important and worthy issue, some attention should be placed on the cockpit as well. The ability to fight fire in the cockpit is something that has not been considered as serious as cabin problems, and therefore they have not been as widely studied. This is something that should be changed, however, so that the pilots and crew of the aircraft can have as much protection from fire as the passengers in the cabin.

Fires are not only important for the lives and property of the passengers and crew, but for the systems that are needed to operate the airplane and land it safely as well. One of the main fears of an airline pilot is an electrical fire, because it has the potential to attack what is considered to be the 'nervous system' of the plane and harm all of the systems that the pilot and the navigator rely on (in-Flight, 2003). When this happens, much of the work that the pilot has to do becomes more difficult and there is the potential for a crash or other problems since the pilot no longer has the systems that he or she relies on to safely operate the aircraft. Naturally, this puts all of the passengers and crew in a very large amount of danger when it comes to landing the plane safely.