Airport Crews Complete Live Fire Training
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(Above) Firefighters prepare to enter the cabin while others suppress an
engine fire.
(Below) Firefighters remove a simulated passenger. |
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| The nozzle on this 3,000 Oshkosh Striker is operated from the cab, allowing
close access to an actively burning aircraft. |
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| Photos by Jay Thompson |
(posted 9.21.09)
The Indianapolis Airport Authority Fire Department completed its annual
FAA mandated live firefighting training last week, with the help of Kellogg
Community College's mobile simulator. The simulator allows fire crews to
use their own equipment to fight engine and interior fires, as well as
flammable fuel spills and brake fires. Without the mobile training, crews
would have to travel to a training facility to meet federal requirements.
The training is spread out over three days to give all shifts hands on
experience.
Although the airport is an index D level on the FAA's scale from A to E,
it meets the standards for an E level facility, according IAA Fire Chief
Rick Gentry. E level airports handle aircraft longer than 220', while D
level airports deal with planes between 159' and 199'.
The first vehicle dispatched to an incident must be to the mid-point of
farthest runway within 3 minutes to meet current FAA rules. The FAA has
proposed shortening that time to the National Fire Protection Association's
recommendation of reaching any point on the operational runway in 2 minutes.
The American Association of Airport Executives recently released a study that shows the average cost to implement the NFPA's guidelines on response
times, additional equipment and personnel could cost an extra $6 million
per airport, plus an additional $2.6 million per year in annual costs.
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