WORCESTER - Nearly a year ago, a top official in the Massachusetts Port Authority urged its board to scrap the current staffing system that has security officers also acting as firefighters.
The head of aviation recommended reorganizing firefighting and public safety personnel, but it has not happened.
The move would have resulted in changes here, and at the Massport-owned L.G. Hanscom Field in Bedford, placing firefighting under the control of Logan's Fire Rescue Department. Only after a fatal plane crash at Hanscom was the model adopted there.
In a memo obtained by the Telegram & Gazette to Thomas Glynn, CEO and executive director of Massport, Edward Freni, director of aviation, explained the reorganization would, in his opinion, improve public safety.
"One organizational model for safety and security enhances the respective public safety services through consistent staffing levels, training requirements, resulting in enhanced accountability, oversight, and expertise," Mr. Freni said in the memo.
The newspaper requested the memo from Massport under the state's Public Records Law, but the agency said the document was exempt because it was discussed in an executive session about collective bargaining.
The new model for safety was adopted at Hanscom after a fatal crash in October 2014 that killed seven people. The May 31, 2014, National Transportation Safety Board investigation into that crash found that "the impact forces from the accident were survivable, but the cabin and cockpit environment quickly deteriorated due to the postcrash fire, which erupted immediately, spread rapidly, and prevented the occupants from escaping."
Further, the NTSB noted, "although it did not affect the survivability of this accident, had a resupply hose been placed at the fire hydrant in the vicinity of the accident site before the aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles exhausted their water supply, the 14-minute delay in resuming firefighting activities could have been avoided."
Although the firefighting model has been changed at Hanscom, Worcester is still without full-time firefighters and instead relies on safety officers who have multiple duties.
The Freni memo, dated Oct. 28, 2014, said the "enhancement at Worcester and Hanscom will align Massport with other public agencies that own and operate multiple airports (eg. New York, Chicago, Miami, and Detroit) and who have moved to a standard public safety model across their airports."
The memo noted that in Worcester a "public safety staff of thirteen covers both security and aircraft fire response capabilities," supported by state police when jetBlue flights operate. There are two jetBlue fights a day at Worcester.
The aviation director proposed reorganizing Worcester's public safety operation effective March 1, 2015. The move would have resulted in the creation of a separate fire rescue unit at Worcester that would be under the control of Logan's Fire Rescue Department.
The new staffing model proposed by Freni would require 24/7 ARFF (Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting) coverage. The model calls for two fire engines with two firefighters on each. New staffing would require 10 firefighters and five captains.
"This coverage meets the FAA regulations and aviation industry standards," the memo said.
The new staffing, however, would be more costly. The proposed upgrade for commercial service would require eight hours of overtime per day. The additional fiscal 2015 costs, including overtime and training for 15 fire rescue staff, was set at $1.6 million. Annual operating costs of the new unit would be $2.5 million, the memo said.
As for security, the current budget has funding for state troopers during commercial flight times. Under the Freni proposal, a full-time sergeant and 12-hour coverage would be implemented. Additional state police costs were set at $462,000 for fiscal 2015. Annual operating costs were set at $825,000 in fiscal 2016.
The existing ARFF jobs would be reorganized as "a security-only function." Those jobs would have specific and limited roles: "dispatch, exit lane, vehicle access gate, vehicle inspections, wildlife control and overnight airport security." The annual cost of the new unit was set at $1.2 million.
But the Massport board, chaired by Worcester lawyer Michael P. Angelini, decided in a December 2014 executive session not to use full-time firefighters at Worcester, according to minutes of the Jan. 15, 2015, board meeting. In the December executive session, the board reportedly voted to hire new firefighters only for Hanscom. A public records request for minutes for the December meeting was denied. The authority cited collective bargaining as the reason for the executive session.
Asked about the Freni proposal, Massport spokesman Matt Brelis said, "This is a topic that was discussed in executive session so I am limited in what I can say. It is important to keep in mind that all Massport airports meet or exceed the FAA part 139 ARFF requirements. There is a vast difference between our three airports," he said.
He noted that "Hanscom has more than four times the number of operations of Worcester; Logan has more than 11 times the number. Furthermore, there are many more types of aircraft at Logan and Hanscom than there are at Worcester, and aircraft familiarization is a key component of ARFF training. For example, there is no reason for a Worcester fire officer to be trained on any wide-bodied aircraft, such as Boeing 747 or Airbus A 330."
He explained that firefighters at Boston and Hanscom are interchangeable.
"So if a firefighter is at Hanscom one day, she could be at Logan the next. For that reason, they are trained to Logan’s standard," Mr. Brelis said.
At the board's January meeting, three union leaders spoke about staffing concerns at the Worcester Regional Airport. Arthur Miner, president of Massport Fire Fighters Local S-2; Jay Colbert, secretary-treasurer of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts; and A. Michael Mullane, district vice president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, told the board they should reconsider a December vote "to defer action on utilizing full-time firefighters at Worcester."
The minutes say the three indicated the decision "contradicts a commitment to safety and security."
The union leaders also noted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is transitioning from dual-role employees, such as those in Worcester, to full-time firefighters.
They added their concern that the "City of Worcester Fire Department might not be able to provide timely mutual aid to the airport."
The minutes said that "Mr. Angelini noted in response that the ultimate responsibility for all Authority matters rests with the Members of the Massport Board, and that the Board takes that responsibility very seriously and will continue to do so."
As Mr. Mullane of the IAFF noted in his comments to the board, "Use of 'public safety officer,' dual role between police and fire is on the decline. This role was created primarily for small airports without commercial air travel, and without resources to staff a dedicated ARFF department."
Mr. Mullane drew the board's attention to the July 2013 San Francisco International Airport crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214. Three passengers died when the jet struck a seawall. Forty passengers, eight flight attendants and one of the flight crew were seriously injured. The other 255 people on board had minor or no injuries.
The NTSB found the San Francisco ARFF equipment and staffing levels exceeded the FAA-required minimum requirements.
"Because of the amount of available ARFF vehicles and personnel, the airport firefighters were able to perform exterior firefighting and send firefighters into the airplane who rescued five passengers who were unable to self-evacuate amid rapidly deteriorating cabin conditions. Due to the lack of an FAA required minimum staffing level, passengers involved in an aviation accident at a smaller airport may not be afforded the same level of protection that the passengers of flight 214 had," said the NTSB report.
Mr. Freni, the Massport aviation director, also noted the Asiana crash in his memo to the board in advocating for a better trained crew at Worcester.
"This extra coverage is consistent with best practices and lessons learned from the Asiana aircraft incident at SFO (San Francisco International Airport)," Mr. Freni said in the memo to Mr. Glynn.
A request to Massport to interview Mr. Glynn about the memo was not granted.
Mr. Mullane also told the board, "Massport's commitment to excellence at Logan is well known. The ARFF safety plan far exceed the minimums required by the FAA. It doesn't make sense to me, that this board is satisfied with simply meeting the minimums at Worcester Regional Airport, rather than striving for excellence as at other Massport facilities."
Mr. Mullane said the board should follow the recommendations of its experts "to ensure that those flying into or out of Worcester Regional Airport benefit from the same level of protection, access to the same well-trained full-time dedicated ARFF personnel in Worcester, as we enjoy at Logan."
In the same January meeting, Mr. Colbert, of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, told the board that it appeared to him the reason the board voted not to have full-time professional fire fighters at Worcester was the cost.
Mr. Colbert noted Massport had a strong fiscal 2014 with expenses 1.5 percent, or $9 million, below projections. Revenues, he said, were above projections by 4.7 percent, or $35 million.
While noting Massport's investment in the Worcester airport, and the CAT III landing system under construction, "the picture being painted is one of fiscal success notwithstanding the Authority's commitment to safety and security," Mr. Colbert said.
However, he emphasized, "the decision to defer action to send full-time professional ARFF personnel in Worcester contradicts this Board's stated mission and commitment to the Worcester community."
He suggested the board's decision not to have professional firefighters at Worcester "may have a much greater cost, the personal safety of passengers flying in and out of Worcester, should this Board continue deferring a decision."
Also in the meeting, Massport firefighter president Miner told the board the Worcester "public safety officers" receive very limited training and noted that in an emergency fire situation "they need to change uniforms, lock up their guns, and respond to the fire."
"They are not full-time professional ARFF firefighters and lack the extensive training specific to ARFF that is required of all firefighters assigned to Logan."
However, Mr. Miner noted, "they do satisfy the FAA's minimum requirement."
He reminded the board that since the purchase of the Worcester Airport by Massport, the Local S-2 union has raised safety concerns about the use of safety officers, and not firefighters. Discussions intensified when jetBlue started commercial service. Mr. Miner told the board that "effective Jan. 1, 2015, Massport and the Teamsters Local 25 had agreed that Massport had the option of transferring ARFF responsibilities to a full-time dedicated fire department" at Worcester. The Worcester ARFF employees are members of the Teamsters local.
In September 2014, it appeared as if Massport was on track to standardize firefighting at all three of its properties.
The authority created a new position, deputy fire chief, "to help Massport enhance its emergency response and operations by working to standardize operations and unified command across the Agency's airports," according to a Massport press release dated Sept. 8, 2014.
Paul Smith was named to the job effective Sept. 1, 2014. He declined to comment for this story.
In an Oct. 24 interview with the T&G following a fatal single-engine plane crash at Worcester Regional Airport that day, Mr. Angelini said the Worcester Airport meets FAA firefighting regulations and expressed hope that the former city-owned airport would increase commercial traffic. If that happened, Mr. Angelini said, "we would increase our safety resources, fire and otherwise."
When asked by the T&G what is the practice for positioning of ARFF personnel when jetBlue flights land and takeoff, Mr. Brelis said, "Personnel are positioned at the airport and in the ARFF building to ensure the airport meets or exceeds the FAA airfield incident response standards. These crews would not normally be in trucks on the ARFF apron unless, for example, they are requested to be in position by a flight crew."
A local pilot, with an experienced eye on safety, Jack Keenan, of Shrewsbury, has high standards for aviation safety.
A commercial pilot, Mr. Keenan flew corporate jets in his career and piloted helicopters in the U.S. military in Vietnam. For 13 years, he was an FAA aviation safety inspector. Asked about what he thought the expectations would be of commercial airline pilots flying into an airport such as Worcester, he said, "Professional airline pilots would expect a full-time firefighting team."
Worcester Regional Airport Director Andrew Davis did not agree to meet a reporter who went to his airport office recently.
A call to jetBlue asking for comment was not returned.
Source: http://www.telegram.com
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