Fighting Fire with … Videos?
FAA produces videos educating aircraft crew about how to suppress fires caused by lithium batteries.
By Jim Tise, FAA Office of Communications.
Sit in any airport terminal and count the number of people talking on their mobile phones, reading on their tablets, listening to tunes on their media players, or checking the time on their watches.
Each of those portable electronic devices (PEDs) is powered by a lithium battery, as is aircraft equipment, such as emergency lighting and automated external defibrillators. They also power the electronic flight bags, manuals, and personal devices that flight crews carry with them onboard the plane. And all of these devices are potential fire hazards.
Growing awareness of these dangers caught the attention of the aviation industry, as well as Congress. “There was a lot of attention from the Air Line Pilots Association and attention in the FAA’s 2018 reauthorization bill about lithium batteries,” said Ben Supko, executive director of the FAA Hazardous Materials Safety Program. His office is tasked with mitigating the fire risk of lithium batteries. “Generally speaking, we are continuing to see increased hazard related to number of PED fires, especially with vapes. They’re the ones we see most often,” he added.
Concern over this fire risk led Supko’s office to approach the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center about producing videos instructing cabin and flight deck crews on the best ways to extinguish and mitigate lithium battery-related fires. The idea for the videos originated from a conversation with Dick Hill, chief scientific and technical advisor for aircraft fire safety in the FAA’s NextGen Office. He and Supko determined that the types of videos and information the FAA has produced on fighting fires didn’t go far enough when discussing lithium battery-based fires.
Their initial conversations eventually evolved into the production of two fire-prevention videos: One video is designed to educate cabin crews; the other is to educate crews in the flight deck.
Lithium battery fires differ from other fires because they burn more intensely and can lead to heavy smoke, flammable gasses, and even explosions. And, unlike with other fires, lithium batteries can also act as an ignition source. “They can ignite by themselves, not like in other incidences in which the ignition source is separate,” explained Tom Maloney, a general engineer with the FAA’s Fire Safety Branch, who oversaw production of the videos.
“Even though the probability of them catching fire is low, with the commonality of these devices — when you have so many of them — the chances of them happening on an aircraft increase,” said Maloney.
The FAA has identified 290 lithium-battery incidents related to air transport in the United States since 2006. Maloney believes that number may be low because many incidents are not reported. It also does not include incidents that have occurred in other countries.
The videos review aspects particular to lithium battery fires — as well as general firefighting principles — in several scenarios.
They explain warning signs to look out for, how the fire can spread, how to respond, and what protective equipment to wear. The videos discuss the importance of taking immediate action in a fire incident, extinguishing the flames, and then cooling the device once the fire has been controlled.
“The videos enhance training,” said DK Deaderick, a survival factors project coordinator at the FAA, who was part of the video development team. “They’re a tool for air carriers to continuously improve crew training.” As a former trainer of flight attendants, Deaderick speaks from experience. “As many realistic scenarios as you can provide … equals a better product out in the field as far as situational awareness.” She praised the videos for putting “an emphasis on realism.”
As an example, Deaderick offered one scenario in which a lone flight attendant must confront a cabin fire. “In the heat of the moment … we want to caution flight attendants about walking away from a fire to get a smoke hood. They need to stay with the fire, meaning they might have to designate a passenger to get a smoke hood,” she explained. Deaderick acknowledged that could be challenging, and suggested that flight attendants establish a rapport with passengers “because you may need their help in an emergency situation.”
The first key to containing a fire is immediate action, explained Maloney. The second key is to put out flames with a fire extinguisher and then douse the device with water or non-alcoholic liquid to cool it.
It might sound simple, but flight attendants have to consider how to handle an extremely hot device that might be stowed in an overhead bin, wedged in between airplane seats, or in the seat pocket in front of them.
While the mitigation techniques are generally the same for cabin and flight deck crews, there are important differences. Flight deck response must be handled differently because smoke could obscure flight instruments that pilots use to navigate, and excessive use of liquids to extinguish a fire could damage aircraft electronics. The video recommends removing the device from the cockpit and suppressing it in the cabin.
“Pilots can’t necessarily mitigate the device like flight attendants because they need to fly the plane,” said Maloney. “It’s really not the best place to be fighting a fire,” he said, and emphasized that they need to quickly get the device out of the flight deck and continue to focus on flying.
In developing the videos, the FAA solicited input from representatives of airlines, airframe manufacturers, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and cabin crew/pilot associations. “Each of those parties have their own perspective,” said Maloney. “Everyone in industry that we asked for participation was very enthusiastic and very helpful in the entire process,” he added.
For instance, cabin crew provided their input on current onboard firefighting procedures and what they felt comfortable with when dealing with a blaze, and the foreign regulator on the team shared perspectives on their current regulations and what kind of emergency equipment is required in their country.
Deaderick is preparing an advisory circular based on her experiences in filming the videos, which will recommend that air carriers consider storing fire gloves on their planes; incorporate the FAA videos into their crew training; and urge caution to cabin crew members when opening overhead bins because the introduction of oxygen can cause a flash fire or explosion.
She said the videos will be shown to aviation safety inspectors in the field, and she would encourage them to include the videos with other safety-related materials they carry with them when visiting air carriers.
The FAA plans to create more videos targeted at other aviation groups, such as gate agents and baggage handlers. Its testing has also evolved, including a more extensive study looking at different types of liquids to extinguish or cool a device. “If not water, what else is effective?” Maloney said. And the Fire Safety Branch is developing a website to address the issue of flammable hazards throughout the aircraft.
“This was just the start,” said Maloney.
“It was a true safety collaboration,” said Deaderick. “I am so proud of this project and the way it turned out. I can’t say enough about our researchers. They are brainiacs, but they solicited input from all the subject matter experts. Everybody had their two cents put in there. It’s one of the better films we’ve done,” she said.
“The idea may have been hatched through discussions with Dick [Hill] and [the FAA’s] Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, but it wouldn’t have happened without the Tech Center and the team that took the idea and made it a reality,” said Supko. “My hat is off to the Tech Center for the collaborative effort and working across the FAA and with industry to provide this critical information,” he added.
