Application of full-scale fire tests to characterize and improve the aircraft postcrash fire environment.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has conducted numerous full-scale fire tests for the purpose of characterizing the postcrash cabin fire environment and developing improved fire test criteria for cabin materials. The tests consistently demonstrated the importance of cabin flashover on occupant survivability. Flashover is basically a sudden, very rapid spread of fire, generating large quantities of heat, smoke, and toxic gases that quickly fill the cabin. Before flashover, the cabin environment is largely survivable; after flashover, occupant survival becomes highly unlikely. Thermal incapacitation is more important near the fire origin and at higher elevations, whereas toxic gas incapacitation is predominant away from the fire origin and at lower elevations. The FAA has developed and adopted improved fire test methods for seat cushions (fire blocking layers) and interior panels (low heat release). In both cases, the fire test methods are consistent with full-scale test results and serve to improve occupant survivability by delaying the onset of flashover, thereby providing substantially greater available time for occupant evacuation.
Sarkos
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Federal Aviation Administration, William J. Hughes Technical Center, US Department of Transportation, Atlantic City, NJ 08405, USA.
D000060:Accidents, Aviation / Q000401:mortality*; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D012449:Safety; D015208:Smoke Inhalation Injury / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013534:Survival / Q000502:physiology*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods