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4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Airplane crashes have occurred since man first flew. The first airplane passenger death occurred in 1908 when an airplane piloted by Orville Wright crashed during a test flight at Fort Myers in the Washington, D.C., area. The passenger, Lt. Thomas Selfridge, died the day after the crash from a fractured skull and internal injuries sustained at impact. Calbraith Rodgers experienced several crashes and other mishaps when he became the first person to fly across the United States in 1911 but survived all of them during his transcontinental trip. However, a few months after completing that trip he became the first aviation fatality attributed to a bird strike when he collided with a flock of birds over Long Beach, CA, and crashed into the harbor. Many improvements have taken place since those early days. The crash injury causal data discovered during accident investigations have been instrumental in directing safety recommendations, research efforts, and safety studies that have led to improvements in crash survivability. Safety research and safety studies continue to identify new materials, procedures, and standards that improve passenger and crew safety. One important component of crash survivability in an aircraft accident that occurs on or adjacent to the airfield is the response and capability of the airportâs Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) team. In the United States ARFF is only required at airports subject to 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 139 and may not exist at non-Part 139 airports including general aviation airports. Generally, airports serving scheduled air carrier passenger operations with more than nine passenger seats and unscheduled air carrier passenger service with more than 30 seats are required to have a Part 139 certificate. The focus of this research effort is to review air carrier passenger aircraft accidents to determine if changes to ARFF standards would have reduced the number of fatalities or serious injuries that resulted from past accidents. The research team was tasked with comparing the standards set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 14 CFR, Part 139, Certification of Airports with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Annex 14 and standards set forth by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in making determinations of reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries associated with each accident. As stated previously ARFF is one component that contributes to survivability. In Chapter 2, some of the other measures that have been adopted primarily over the last 30 years and contribute to increased survivability are discussed. Chapter 3 provides a brief overview and comparison of the ARFF standards that have been set forth by the FAA, ICAO, and NFPA. Where it could be documented the underlying basis for each organizationâs standards is provided. In Chapter 4, the criteria for identifying âaccidents of interestâ to this research effort are discussed along with the databases that were searched for these accidents. Some observations on these accidents are also included in this chapter.
5 Chapter 5 explains the methodology that the research team used to determine whether different ARFF standards would have reduced the number of fatalities or serious injuries in each accident. Chapter 6 contains the research teamâs conclusions based on the information in Chapter 5. Appendix A contains basic information about each of the âaccidents of interestâ that is in this research effort. The accidents are placed in chronological order by the date of occurrence. The reductions in the number of fatalities and/or serious injuries and the research teamâs analysis used to reach that determination are contained in the Appendix A write-up for each accident. Appendix B provides a graphical depiction of the location of accidents relative to a generic runway, its runway safety area, and the Rapid Response Area. It should be noted that it is not the purpose of this research to recommend whether or not the proposed regulation should be enacted. Rather, it provides technical information and analysis that can be used by others, in conjunction with information from other sources, in formulating policies, regulations, and procedures related to this issue.
