By DENNIS SEID
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
(TNS)
TUPELO – A new training center at Tupelo Regional Airport has drawn interest from firefighters from across the South, who will use the facility to learn the complicated task of aircraft extrication.
A vehicle extrication is the process of removing a person from a vehicle, and those incidents are uncommon, accounting for only 0.5% of all EMS calls.
Fortunately, airplane extrications are extremely rare. Unfortunately, they are also incredibly complicated. Firefighters both local and otherwise will learn advanced Airport Rescue and Firefighting, or ARFF, training at the Tupelo Regional Training Center starting later this month.
Brandon Pannell , the airport executive director and chief safety officer, had the ideal partner to start the center in Will Smith, the director of disassembly operations at Universal Asset Management , which takes apart and recycles aircraft from all over the world.
“We had the idea of this training, and I got together with Will to get one of their planes to simulate a crash and learn how to extricate somebody,” Pannell said. “Luckily, we had Will on board because he taught me a lot about these aircraft.”
Airplane extrication training focuses on forcible entry, passenger access, and vehicle stabilization using specific aircraft construction knowledge and tools. It’s important to understand unique aircraft construction, which includes frames, stringers, fuel tanks, wiring, and materials like aluminum, titanium and composites, which is crucial for effective extrication.
“We’re going to have a trial class on the 11th, and then hopefully have a fully functional first class after that,” said Pannell. Each class lasts three days, and is open to certified I and II firefighters and any ARFF personnel.
“And maybe one day, we’ll venture out to the maintenance side of it, because some smaller airports take their maintenance guys and turn them into responding ARFF personnel also,” Pannell added.
While Tupelo Regional is a general aviation airport, it does have commercial flights via Contour Airlines, and larger planes like Boeing 737s and 757s also fly into the airport.
UAM has retired aircraft planes like the Boeings as well as Airbus planes like the 320 and other models.
The company’s familiarity with planes of all types because of the nature of its work is a plus for the training center.
“Our primary purpose is to remove a set list of components off the air frames, and we send them to shops to inspect and resell – that’s our primary business function,” Smith said. “But we do have all these different air frames that have to be scrapped at some point in time, and Brandon and I discussed … training opportunities and their readiness by utilizing these air frames.”
While firefighters at other airports have the capability to train with the equipment needed for an extrication, they don’t have ready access to use that equipment on airframes like Tupelo does with UAM.
“Our goal is to help the Tupelo airport and the ARFF departments enhance their readiness and training and give hands-on experience,” Smith said. “And for us, it shows how we can recycle and reuse an airframe, and how an airplane fuselage still has a lot of value even after it’s retired. They can be used for training for multiple departments, and that’s why we partnered with the airport.”
Aircraft extrication is more complicated than vehicle extrication, particularly with having to deal with large quantities of fuel, specialized construction materials and internal layouts that present challenges not found in structural or vehicle fires.
“I would say the most difficult, in the event of an emergency, and they couldn’t breach through the doorways of an aircraft, is how are they going to enter it,” Smith said. “Whether the plane ran off the runway and the doors are inaccessible in some way or the airframe is twisted in some fashion and the doors are jammed, what is the other method of getting in? What’s another innovative way to get inside.”
The initial class will accommodate 15 people, but successive classes will have up to 35 students. The plan is to offer the training monthly if there’s enough interest. Already, there is interest from as far away as Texas and New Mexico.
“I think this class will help everybody, and anybody who comes will be prepared because they’ll know how deep the saw needs to go, to be conscious that somebody might be sitting there and they’ll know how high to cut through the walls,” Pannell said. “The beauty of this class is being able to see what the aircraft are made of, and to know what you need to cut on it.”
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