Copyright 2006 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
By TONY BIZJAK
Sacramento Bee (California)
In its four decades of existence, Sacramento International Airport has yet to suffer a catastrophic plane fire. But should the day come, officials say they are better equipped than ever.
One reason? The snozzle.
CRASH RESCUE EQUIPMENT SERVICE, INC.
A few months ago, as the airport hit a record 10 million passengers annually, it joined the list of airports that own what is being called the “it” tool in the aircraft firefighting world.
Technically, the device is called the High Reach Extendable Turret. Commonly, the name’s the snozzle — as in big nose.
The $1.1 million device allows a firefighter to douse a fire inside a plane without getting out of the truck.
It consists of a long, articulated mechanical arm with a steep-tipped nozzle, 8 inches long, that pierces a plane’s fuselage and sprays sheets of water in all directions in the cabin.
The nozzle is fitted with an infrared camera to locate hot spots through walls, allowing firefighters to detect where a fire is in a plane without going inside.
At the Sacramento airport, where fire staffing is slim, officials say the device, bought with a federal grant, is a boon.
“It’s one of the neatest things I’ve seen,” Sacramento airports Fire Chief Lance McCasland said. “It’s unbelievable what you can do with this, with one person.”
Industry leaders and the Federal Aviation Administration encourage large airports to get a snozzle. But the device isn’t without uncertainties.
Although snozzles have been in use for years, they have been used in just a handful of crashes, mainly cargo planes. The snozzle has yet to be put through its first major test in a large passenger plane fire.
Sarah O’Connor, a representative of snozzle manufacturer Crash Rescue Equipment Service Inc., of Dallas, said her company has met resistance among firefighters who fear they might kill a passenger standing where the nozzle penetrates. Others worry the water could burn passengers if it turns to scalding steam in the fire.
Proponents say those concerns are misplaced and will disappear as the device gets a broader track record.
David White, publisher of Industrial Fire World Magazine, asks which scenario is worse:
Potentially scalding passengers, or having them killed by fire and smoke because firefighters used slower methods?
“Survival in an aircraft fire is measured in seconds,” said Jack Kreckie, spokesman for the national Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Working Group, which promotes training and research.
Industry officials say a plane’s crew would be moving passengers away from the fire before firefighters arrive.
Kreckie acknowledges some people might be more comfortable using the snozzle on cargo planes, but the device could work better in a passenger plane where there won’t be stacks of cargo to impede the spray.
The key, he says, will be preparation and practice.
All of Sacramento airport’s firefighters are being trained with the snozzle. They practice first on a computer simulator in the firehouse, then go out in the big E-One Titan truck with the snozzle.
During a February training session, firefighter Jim Rhoe levitated the boom over a practice fuselage set up in a corner of the airport, then plunged the nozzle through the metal exterior, “as if through tin foil,” McCasland said.
It’s a tricky maneuver. The target area is tiny. Hit a rivet or plane rib and the snozzle can break, Rhoe said. Penetrate too high and the nozzle is stuck inside an overhead compartment, too low and the spray can be blocked by seats.
New Orleans airport Fire Chief Richard Blanchard says planes should have a “sweet spot” marked on their flanks, so firefighters will know where to hit.
At the moment, there are no national standards for use of the device. National Fire Protection Association official Mark Conroy said fire departments likely will decide when and how to use it based on their training level and the demands of the particular emergency.
The questions about the device stem, in part, from a fortunate aspect of airport firefighting:
“It’s not unusual for a guy to work his whole career at an airport and not go to a major crash,” says White, publisher of Industrial Fire World Magazine.
But, as jets get larger and airports such as Sacramento busier, the threat always looms.
Sacramento International Airport officials say the snozzle purchase is just part of their effort to improve the fire force.
Until a half-dozen years ago, Sacramento firefighters served as jacks-of-all-trades, including fixing runway lights and refueling planes. Fire supervisor Steve Soto said they’d even be called at night to stop car break-ins in the parking lot. “We’d drive up with lights and sirens to try to scare them away.”
Now, McCasland said, the crew limits its focus to firefighting, emergency rescue and medical aid.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento and many airports, the most debated topic is not snozzles, it’s staffing.
There are no explicit FAA regulations on minimum staffing. But the Fire Protection Association recommends 12 people on duty each shift at airports Sacramento’s size.
Sacramento International generally staffs nine, and sometimes as few as six per shift, McCasland said.
He acknowledges that number is below the recommended level, but noted the agency has a mutual aid agreement and quarterly joint training sessions with nearby Sacramento Fire Department stations, and is negotiating with the city on a joint project to build another fire station near the airport entrance.
If that station is built, the airport would effectively meet or surpass the nationally recommended standard, he said.
For now, McCasland said, “I would like to have more folks,” but in the absence of funding, “we try to use creative ways to serve the public.”
The new snozzle, he said, should help fill the gap.
The Snozzle
How it works: The new firefighting tool at Sacramento International Airport gets water inside burning planes faster than traditional methods.
1. After the firefighting vehicle approaches the burning aircraft, the snozzle operator uses a joy stick to maneuver the snozzle close to the plane’s fuselage.
2. Avoiding rivets, which indicate structural supports that can damage the snozzle, the operator thrusts the device through the plane’s exterior.
3. Once the snozzle is up to 20 inches inside the plane, it blasts a sheet of water - more than 250 gallons per minute - that quickly cools the plane’s interior.
ARF-68 The snozzle is mounted on an eight-wheeled Titan HPR firefighting vehicle.
Vehicle specs
Crew: 2
Top speed: 65 mph
Water capacity: 3,000 gallons
Foam capacity: 405 gallons
Auxiliary fire-extinguishing agent: 500 pounds of Halotron
Sources: Sacramento International Airport, Crash Rescue Equipment Service Inc.; Emergency One Inc.