| Download | - View final version: Water stream displacement of aircraft windows and overwing exits: a preliminary study (PDF, 4.9 MiB)
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| DOI | Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.4224/40002716 |
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| Author | Search for: Gould, Ron1; Search for: Jacquet, Francois1; Search for: Hind, Simon1 |
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| Affiliation | - National Research Council of Canada. Aerospace
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| Format | Text, Technical Report |
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| Physical description | 42 p. |
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| Abstract | During a routine fire truck systems check on 28 May 2016, a stream of water from a roof-mounted turret on one of the Ottawa International Airport Authority (OIAA) Emergency Rescue Services (ERS) trucks completely displaced eight cabin windows on a B737-200 trainer aircraft. The cabin interior wall panels were also found to be completely displaced and bent out of shape after contact with the seat sets. A subsequent test on the re-installed windows resulted in both window and overwing exit (OWE) door displacement. This unexpected door, window and interior lining displacement pose both a serious safety risk and a potential novel aircraft ventilation and firefighting agent delivery tactic for the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) community.
This report details preliminary tests performed at the OIAA ERS facility which illustrate the potential to quickly, forcefully and remotely displace B737 cabin windows and B-727 OWE doors with a water stream from a fire truck. A preliminary review of other aircraft window and OWE structures is presented as well as ideas for development of a testing and training apparatus for OIAA ARFF personnel, which could be adapted to include a variety of window and OWE structures.
This new information reveals an aircraft design danger with certain window installation methods and exterior OWE door release mechanisms, which could risk injuring passengers who are exiting an aircraft during an emergency. Displaced windows or overwing emergency exit doors could impact passengers and the resulting opening in the fuselage could provide oxygen to an internal fire and an entry point for external fire. The new discovery will also be investigated as a potential novel tool and tactic to assist in fighting aircraft fires.
This preliminary report will be shared with Transport Canada (TC) who will determine if and how the information should be shared with the Canadian and international ARFF communities to increase awareness of the risk and to take appropriate action. In parallel, NRC / OIAA plans to determine the feasibility of using this new information to develop novel ARFF strategies for fighting aircraft fires. NRC / OIAA will seek collaborative opportunities to collect data and advance the test program. |
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| Publication date | 2017-02 |
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| Publisher | National Research Council of Canada. Aerospace |
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| Series | |
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| Note | For: Transport Canada and the International ARFF Community |
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| Language | English |
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| Peer reviewed | No |
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| Export citation | Export as RIS |
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| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
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| Record identifier | 7cc41956-c95b-4a42-a311-260af0e60045 |
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| Record created | 2022-01-06 |
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| Record modified | 2022-06-10 |
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