'AerSafe' Meets Requirements For FAA's Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction Rule For Commercial Passenger Aircraft

The FAA has granted an STC to AerSale allowing the installation of the company's AerSafe system into the center fuel tank of Boeing 737-700/800 aircraft. AerSafe provides a means of ignition mitigation preventing a spark from causing an explosion in the aircraft's center fuel tank.

The FAA enacted the Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction Rule following the fatal crash of a TWA Boeing 747 aircraft off the coast of New York in 1996. The crash was caused by an electrical spark from a frayed wire in the aircraft's center fuel tank which ignited fuel vapors propagating a catastrophic explosion and loss of the aircraft. The FAA has specified two means of complying with the Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction Rule: installation of a flammability reduction means or an ignition mitigation means. Prior to AerSafe approval, the only product available to comply with the Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction Rule on a Boeing 737-700/800 aircraft was a nitrogen gas inerting system.

The company says the installation of AerSafe will cost less than half of the nitrogen gas inerting system. In addition to the cost benefits of AerSafe, advantages include rapid installation, no modifications to the aircraft's structure, minimal maintenance, an estimated 20 year material life, no expensive spare parts to maintain or replace and no flight test required after installation. "AerSale's team of qualified technicians can install AerSafe in an aircraft in less than a day at almost any location where the center fuel tank can be drained for access," stated David Querio, General Manager of AerSale's FAA- approved Certified Repair Station located in Roswell, New Mexico. "Once installed, AerSafe unburdens the operator with virtually no further maintenance requirements to keep the system functional and compliant with the FTFR."

(Source: AerSale news release)

FMI: www.aersale.com