- Author
- Marker, T.
- Title
- Impact of Improved Materials and Cabin Water Spray on Commuter Aircraft Postcrash Fire Survivability. Technical Note.
- Coporate
- Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ
- Report
- DOT/FAA/CT-TN93/40; ACD-240, November 1993, 35 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- aircraft compartments | water sprays | postcrash fires | large scale fire tests | fuselages | fire retardant materials
- Identifiers
- zoned cabin water spray system; fractional effective dose
- Abstract
- Twelve full-scale tests were conducted in a modified Metroliner fuselage to study the impact of using improved fire retardant materials and a cabin water spray system on postcrash fire survivability. Currently, commuter category aircraft as defined in Part 23 are exempt from meeting the stringent Federal Aviation Regulaitons (FARs) requiring seat cushion fire blocking layers and low heat/smoke release panels in large transport aircraft. A zoned cabin water spray system which allowed for the individual activation of spray zones depending on cabin temperature was designed and installed in the fuselage. The system consisted of four 100 inch long zones, each containing 6 nozzles. Of the twelve tests, five were run with the water spray system and a different combination of cabin materials. These five tests were repeated without the water spray system in order to establish baseline data for each material combination. Two additional tests were conducted to investigate the impact of a partially obstructed forward exit and also to evaluate the effect that the channel-type floor geometry used in the Metroliner aircraft has on flame propagation during a cabin fire. Temperature, smoke levels, and gas concentrations were continuously monitored at a forward cabin location and each test was recorded on video.