Video Available To View Online

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) review of commercial aviation accidents involving in-flight fires during the period 1983 to 2000 prompted the NTSB to issue a number of safety recommendations to the FAA, including the development of an AC to address a number of issues linked to in-flight fires. The FAA agreed with the safety intent of those recommendations and issued AC 120-80, In-Flight Fires, on January 8, 2004. The FAA Technical Center Fire Safety Branch has developed a training video to complement the AC.

This video discusses the danger of in-flight fires, particularly hidden fires, the importance of recognizing the conditions associated with hidden fires, and the importance of taking immediate and aggressive action to gain access to and aggressively combat in-flight fires. The video demonstrates effective actions for combating in-flight fires, including crew coordination and the application of fire extinguishing agents.

Directors of operations, directors of safety, chief pilots, training managers and training centers should consider incorporating this video into crewmember emergency training. When tailored to a specific aircraft and operator procedures, the suggested actions presented in this video provide a good framework for combating in-flight fires. However, approved manufacturer’s procedures and company procedures should still take precedence over the information presented in the video.

The importance of crewmembers taking immediate and aggressive action to locate the source, gain access, and effectively apply extinguishing agents to hidden fires cannot be overstressed.

FMI: http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/