DPApilot
GUYSH! GUYSH! GUYSH!
Those RB211’s were a sight!
Delta GPU connect fire SEA
- Thread starter Cherokee_Cruiser
- Start date
Rosstafari
Likes tacos
Uh, oversharing.
Side note, I wonder if Scheduling will accept “I’m not feeling it” for my next call up.
Maximilian_Jenius
Super User
Did you call the FAA tip line?Long time ago, I was on the L1011 jumpseat going from MCO to ATL during a (orlando-definition of a) cold morning. It was like a 1980’s hair metal video, especially with the low light and rotating beacon lighting it up.
Like a rainbow in the daaaaaaaaaark
He (allegedly) told a trusted spouse, who did it.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
They are there for those who have use for them, not for any random employee to take part. I have seen them used for cabin oven fires by FAs and very minor non-aircraft/fuel related fires on the ramp by various airline staff, but that is about it. Fuelers and others like airfield ops who may or may not be around do have fire safety training that goes beyond most airline ground staff. Even then, I'd imagine most would just wait for the trucks (which usually get there pretty quick it seems).
The only thing management is likely to do is perhaps ensure there is no fueling going on unknowingly or nearby fuel pits or anything like that. And have people clear out ramp equipment if needed to help out the responding trucks get set up. I've only seen stuff like this (pushback fires, GPU fires, ect) from the ramp tower so I couldn't do much but call it in. You'd be surprised how little specific training there is for managers in these kind of situations, just about no emergencies call for airline management to get involved in trying to stop a fire/shooting/accident ect. Just about keeping everyone safe and getting help so the pros can take over. Hourly employees are basically told to get out of the way and call airport communications and their managers and then basically standby. Nothing about hopping in there either.
As for decorations. If I had $1 for everytime a jetway didn't work and a CRJ driver said "are the jetway stairs for decoration?", implying ground board with the doors built-in airstairs then pax go up the rickety usually not very safe and grippy jetway stairs. Its very possible, but the stairs are not ADA or public use compliant (they morph dramatically, especially when lowered to meet a CRJ) and employees are injured on them constantly. So at most airports, that will only be an option with the approval of the biggest swinging dong on duty (usually the Airport Duty Manager) in some special case. But usually, the airlines will happily have a CRJ hold an hour vs offload/load via jetway stairs and across the ramp. Defibulators and all sorts of equipment are around airline employees who have zero or very basic training on any of it.
2008 training to be a SkyWest ground agent was honestly more intense and, well, far superior to anything I've ever had since. I guess the industry did change a lot, but the training today is more like "Here is a quick summary about this vehicle you can memorize, see the bold part? Ok. So, what did we learn? Ok cool, we'll never talk about that vehicle again. Moving on". One airline even had an "Are you sure?" warning on HAZMAT training tests that required 100% if you selected the wrong button in True/False. What a time to be alive.
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By virtue of even admitting it on the internet, I guess I should be banned!
ERfly
Well-Known Member
I also loved watching those things pull into the jetway with all the mist from the air conditioning system on a humid day! Cockpit looked like a KISS concert.Long time ago, I was on the L1011 jumpseat going from MCO to ATL during a (orlando-definition of a) cold morning. It was like a 1980’s hair metal video, especially with the low light and rotating beacon lighting it up.
ERfly
Well-Known Member
The Pratts especially! If we had a tailwind on a cold morning/night, I'd see the white smoke come up around the cockpit.
BEEF SUPREME
Well-Known Member
knot4u
Repeat Offender
If you want a smoke show, change an engine and don't bleed all of the preservation fluid in the engines fuel system before you start it. For some reason the PW306 on the G200 would just belch obscene clouds of white smoke everytime on the first start after an engine change. The fire department showed up more than once. Back then you didn't have to call airport ops to get permission for a MX engine run like we do now. We were ahead of the game and would let them know, so they could let the fire department know to stand down. Depending on the wind I suspect they also would call the Airtel, even if we weren't the best neighbors we also weren't the worst.
Bob Ridpath
Pit Bull love
But, seriously, what's the point of them being readily available then? Almost certainly not there for ARFF to use. Seriously no training for rampers/staff to mitigate/minimize a situation until the fire crew arrives?You’re asking military questions in the civilian world!
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
I believe the proper answer to this question is 3 letters, and you'll have to borrow 2 vowels.
knot4u
Repeat Offender
I was always given instruction on how to use the big fire extinguishers with wheels I worked around, but I was never told it was my responsibility to deploy it when things got scary. Thankfully the only times I've ever had to discharge a fire extinguisher have been in my house, mostly the oven, maybe once when I saw a car on fire on the side of the road. Whose fault it was is up for debate between my ex wife and I. I think folks that have served in the military are trained to look at emergencies differently and will grab the fire extinguisher and start fighting, they're not fighting a fire, they're protecting their fellow soldiers. I still carry a fire extinguisher in my truck and keep one handy in the kitchen.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
NFPA 407 requires them to be there. They used to allow ABC types, but due to the potential for damage to aircraft structures (not actually on fire but exposed to the extinguisher), they switched to water or CO2 systems. That said, there is no requirement for anybody other than fueler to be trained on using any form of fire fighting equipment during the fueling process.
PKP will take out any type of fuel fire no problem, but will take out any electronics in the process also.
Absolutely idiotic for those extinguishers to be there if the bulk of the personnel present on the line there aren’t trained to use them. ARFF isn’t going to use them; we have their own party favors they bring to the show with us.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
I am not extraordinarily experienced with fire fighting, other than a few short stints doing my time at the illustrious US Navy shipboard firefighting school (where the only fire you fight is a raging propane/natural gas fire that you must destroy over long time like the end of level bosses in Mario or Sonic)......buuuut......isnt expending halon in a fairly small airline cabin kind of a bad thing? I mean, one with air breathing mammals/primates in it
The small halon extinguishers aboard an airliner with its large cabin and air recirculation, don’t create enough density to be an issue, as long as you’re not directly breathing in the stream. Additionally, halon acts so fast, not a lot would be used in the course of a small fire, especially electrical fires. What the lousy thing was, was the removal of the requirement for water fire extinguishers from airliners. They are useful for a number of things. The large halon or halotron flight line fire extinguishers are great for engine and fuel fires also.
ASpilot2be
Qbicle seat warmer
On the freighters we're taught not to discharge halon until everybody is on a mask.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
I suppose maybe the difference is in volume? I'd expect your system is sort of like what the weapons bays on a carrier had......though that is probably a little more extreme. I remember my squadron Gunner (the ground officer who managed the ordnance personnel) claiming that this system would suffocate a person in less than something like a second or two if they were unlucky enough to be locked in the vault when it was activated. Ooof
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Fun fact... on a 121 aircraft, every location that has a fire extinguisher will also have a PBE. Doesn't help anybody else in near proximity though.
