Safety Topics: Protection Against Fire and Smoke

Abstract

WORK is being done by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on a variety of measures aimed at protecting passengers from smoke and fire, one of the most recently publicised being the decision on smoke hoods. After extensive research and study and consultations with other authorities the CAA has made it known that it will not make smoke hoods a mandatory requirement for British airlines. It believes that no fully adequate design capable of doing everything thought to be necessary is yet available. Unless a smoke hood meets all essential requirements of protection against smoke, fire resistance, performance duration, weight ease of donning and availability, it could not be relied upon at a moment of crisis and in the full range of circumstances. Further work requires to be undertaken in several important areas and when the case for regulatory action comes to be reviewed, other fire protection developments such as water sprays, will have to be taken into account.

Citation

Mayday (1988), "Safety Topics: Protection Against Fire and Smoke", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 60 No. 2, pp. 28-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb036575