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4 Air Quality in Emergency Situations
Pages 91-112

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From page 91...
... Two in-flight emergency situations affect cabin air quality: fire and cabin Repressurization. Not only can fire lead to deterioration of the structural integrity of the aircraft and its ability to remain in controlled flight, but the resulting smoke and toxic combustion products and ultimately the fire itself constitute direct hazards to passengers and crew.
From page 92...
... that injuries and deaths were due primarily to the postcrash effects of fire, smoke, and toxic fumes and only secondarily to crash impact itnelf.17 The aircraft used in NATO countries are largely of American manufacture and meet American standards, so data on accidents in these countries should be considered with the American data; that increases the apparent incidence of fire-related death. Three accidents have played an especially prominent role in increasing awareness of the importance of smoke and toxic fumes: · In 1973, a passenger aboard a Varig Airlines flight (B-707)
From page 93...
... But even when the fuselage remains relatively intact, the radiant energy impinging on the cabin through the window ports from the flame of the pool fire is sufficient to ignite many materials.! ' Obviously, prevention of crashes and resulting fires is a major concern of the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
From page 94...
... Origins of fires in the cabin include failure in the oxygen supply system, liquid fuel spills, short circuits, matches, lighters, cigarettes and cigars, and carry-on luggage. The food service galley is a common source of fires, with origins including ovens and oven exhaust systems, electric equipment, food waste storage, and the oxygen system.
From page 95...
... On August 8, 1984, FAA announced proposed rules to upgrade the fire safety standards for cargo or baggage compartments in transport aircraft.19 FAA conducted full-scale fire tests to investigate the resistance of cargo liners to flame penetration for both compartments to which crew members have access and in which fire suppression systems are required (class C compartments) and smaller compartments without access, which are designed for fire control by oxygen starvation (class D compartments)
From page 96...
... establishing new fire test criteria for type certification of transport aircraft that would apply to cabin interiors of all newly manufactured aircraft and all other aircraft that were type-certified after 1958 .22 In full-scale tests, various interior panel materials were subjected to situations simulating an external fuel pool fire with an open door, and the results were correlated with performance with the OSU test apparatus.9 A panel of phenolic-fiberglass, a state-of-the-art composite used in some applications in aircraft interiors, was used as a benchmark. It added approximately 2 min to survivability, compared with other available panels studied.
From page 97...
... M standards are met by currently available materials, other materials, if developed further, would far exceed current standards and would substantially increase fire protection in aircraft. Such organizations as AIA or a similarly constituted organization of airframe manufacturers should be strongly encouraged to initiate or support programs in this field.
From page 98...
... 98 TABLE 4-1 NASA Guidelines for Selection of Replacement Materialsa Replace all materials that burn in 100% oxygen (3.~-16.5 psia) with nonflammable substitutes.
From page 99...
... or equivalent as the extinguishing agent. On October 10, 1985, FAA announced a proposed addition to the Part 121 regulations to require portable breathing equipment for at least one flight-attendant station in each passenger compartment and to require crew members to participate in approved firefighting drills with the portable breathing equipment .2 3 REMOVAL OF TOXIC FUMES .
From page 100...
... Because current supplemental oxygen masks are designed to substitute cabin air for oxygen automatically whenever the cabin pressure is below the equivalent altitude of about 18,000 ft. even attaching the oxygen
From page 101...
... After a crash in 196S, CAMI embarked on a program to develop passenger smoke hoods.1 7 The program led to announcement of an amendment to FAR Part 121 in 1969 that would have required protective smoke hoods to be available on all civil air carrier.24 A number of critical comments were received, mostly involving hood safety, practicality, slowing of evacuation, and Justification of the specifications. In response to these comments9 and over the strong objection of the medical and regulatory arms of FAA, the proposed rule was withdrawn in September 1969.' 7 Several protective devices have been developed, ranging from a simple moist multilayer cloth large enough to cover the mouth and nose and held to the mouth and nose by hand or by an elastic band around the head (the North American Rockwell smoke mask)
From page 102...
... In 1976, several smoke hoods were reviewed in a report of the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development.l 7 The report examined leakage, effectiveness in toxic environments, vision, acoustic attenuation, effectiveness in dense smoke environments, and effectiveness of safety briefings. It concluded that the available Sheldahl rebreathing smoke hood with septal neck seal (Type S)
From page 103...
... FAA bases its position on the relative merits of four basic types of passenger emergency breathing devices: simple smoke hoods with neck seal and no oxygen supply, hoods or masks that connect to the individual ventilation outlets (gaspers) , modifications of current oxygen masks, and hoods or masks with individual self-contained oxygen supplies.
From page 104...
... Furthermore, passengers have found it difficult to don and use current oxygen masks and life vests properly and would probably have even more trouble with more complicated breathing devices. For these reasons, FAA hen chosen to pursue engineering solutions involving selection of materials, fire detection and extinguishing, evacuation and development of a method of purging the aircraft of smoke and toxic fumes in flight, rather than passenger protective breathing device.
From page 105...
... The Committee feels that passenger smoke hoods and breathing devices should be evaluated in terms of their potential contribution to survival and their effect on such factors as evacuation time. In case toxic fumes are the reason for a need for quick escape, protection at the slight expense of speed might save many lives.
From page 106...
... The main problem is in inducing passengers to don their oxygen masks correctly and quickly. Records in the CAMI Cabin Safety Data Bank show a total of 355 incidents involving Repressurization in 1974-1983 (Table 4-2~.
From page 107...
... Year IncidentsIncidents Incidents Incidents 197418 24 12 54 197515 22 1 38 197617 10 6 33 197716 13 2 31 197816 17 6 39 197920 18 7 45 198019 20 5 44 198118 12 4 34 19828 8 2 18 19837 6 6 19 Total154 150 51 355 a Data from Higgins.8 b See text for definition of "significant." In studies conducted at CAMI in 1976, it was determined that the physical activity typical of a flight attendants duties reduces the time of useful consciousness (amount of time until mental functioning deteriorates) by about 40% compared with that of an inactive passenger.
From page 108...
... The Committee recommends that FAA review current airline operating procedures and flight crew instructions for emergencies involving cabin fire or smoke; this review should cover every type of aircraft, regardless of size, in commercial service in the United States. The Committee recommends that the Aerospace Industries Association of America, a similarly constituted organization of airframe manufacturers, or even an individual manufacturer be encouraged to fund and initiate a program to develop a more fire-resistant set of materials from which to fabricate fully functional interior materials for aircraft.
From page 109...
... U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center, 1984.
From page 110...
... UeS. Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center, 1983.
From page 111...
... Improved flammability standards for materials used in the interior of transport category airplane cabins: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
From page 112...
... Federa1 Aviation Administrations 1980. (available from NTIS as AD-A092016)


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