Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Des Moines International Airport (KDSM), Iowa


A Des Moines International Airport fire crew watches as an F-16 taxis along a runway on Dec. 27, 2012.
 Charlie Litchfield/Register file photo 


The Des Moines International Airport is facing a decision over the level of crash-rescue fire protection.

The adequate level of fire protection at an airport is dependent on two factors: first is the size of the airplanes using the airport and their fuel capacity; second is the expected number of people who will be flying in the aircraft.

The National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Air Force have minimum standards. These standards are based on evaluations of numerous crashes and firefighting operations involving aircraft. The most important factor is the ability to quickly apply sufficient fire-suppression agent at one time to extinguish the fire.

For commercial airliners and large cargo aircraft that are Boeing 737 and larger, approximately 10,000 gallons of foam and water would need to be applied within two to three minutes by airport firefighters. The rescue of passengers and crew would require a minimum of one hose line with the rescue crew on the inside of the aircraft.

The level provided at the Des Moines airport by the Iowa Air National Guard on a daily basis has been six firefighters staffing three trucks. From the information I received, the trucks had a capacity of approximately 4,500 gallons.

The equipment was based on providing adequate protection at a minimum level for the F16 jets operated by the Air Guard for their daily flying operations.

When the fighter wing was fully operational, the number of firefighters on duty would increase to approximately 15 per shift. This level of protection is still below the minimum levels for large commercial aircraft that airlines and cargo services fly.

The level of protection being recommended to the Des Moines airport’s governing board of two firefighters and one emergency medical technician firefighter would allow for one crash-rescue truck with a driver, leaving two people to perform both rescue and interior firefighting on a commercial aircraft.

Not knowing the capacity and discharge rates for fire suppression agents the proposal is recommending, I cannot comment further than to state that the capacity and capabilities of the crash-rescue truck need to be fully evaluated.

The most likely scenario of an incident occurring at the airport would be on takeoff or landing, followed by a ground incident. At a minimum, the backup from the Des Moines Fire Department would be several minutes into the incident.

Fortunately, during this period of my study of Des Moines, there has not been a major incident at the airport. Instead of taking the opportunity to increase and provide an adequate level of protection, the airport board is on the verge of further reducing the fire protection at the airport to dangerous levels.

With the Des Moines airport board being a part of the city of Des Moines, the level of fire protection at the airport should be evaluated through the Des Moines Fire Department to determine the actual level of protection and to settle on recommendations on how this should be achieved.

Will degrading of protection result in major air carriers leaving Des Moines due to concerns with cost and insurance? Does Des Moines want to be a first-class airport? The cost sometimes cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

The ideal standard may not be feasible at this time, but is dropping below the level of protection provided by the Air National Guard acceptable to Des Moines?

Three firefighters may be adequate to provide crash-rescue protection at an airport like the Ankeny Regional Airport, but is it adequate for a commercial airport with large numbers of passengers and cargo aircraft like Des Moines has? Aircraft fires and crashes do not necessarily result in 100 percent fatalities to the crew and passengers, as experience showed at Sioux City and more recently in San Francisco.

I would recommend that the mayor and City Council avoid a hasty and costly contract being signed for airport fire protection that is not in the best interests of Des Moines. Use your in-house experts, the Des Moines fire chief and his staff, to quantify an acceptable level of protection.

The mayor appointed this airport board with the City Council’s approval, thus the council and mayor ultimately bear the responsibility for the adequacy of the recommendation that is in front of the airport board.

Just remember: The cost for fire protection is never appreciated until it is needed.

Source:   http://www.desmoinesregister.com

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