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Mahesh

14/01/24 07:24 AM IST

Why is aviation safety under scrutiny?

In News
  • The issue of air safety played out under intense media scrutiny following two aviation incidents.
Boeing case
  • The incident has brought back renewed attention to the Boeing 737 MAX’s troubled flight safety record, with concerns being raised about quality control and the aircraft’s manufacturing processes.
  • The door plug is a space in the fuselage that allows for an additional emergency exit door to be installed.
  • In the Alaska incident, parts of the seat next to the door plug were damaged, while some seat frames were found twisted.
  • The door plug was found later in a neighbourhood in Portland. A few mobile phones of passengers were sucked out.
  • India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation also reported an unidentified Indian operator of the Boeing 737 MAX finding a missing washer during a maintenance inspection.
  • Three airlines in India, i.e., Air India Express, Akasa and Spicejet, operate the 737 MAX 8.
  • This follows a Boeing directive in December 2023 asking 737 MAX operators across the world to carry out checks after a loose bolt was found in the rudder control system of a 737 MAX .
Newer aircraft technology
  • There is increasing use of composite materials in newer aircraft being made by Airbus (A350) and Boeing (787 and 777), which ensure a combination of durability, strength and low weight.
  • In the A350, for example, more than half the plane’s structure is composite, with the use of advanced materials such as carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP).
  • The JAL fire was a real world test for such an aircraft, and the forensic analysis will offer valuable technical insights to investigators and manufacturers.
  • In the Boeing 787 programme, for instance, there have been computer simulation models of the behaviour of composite materials in extreme situations such as a fire or crash, but which have left structural experts divided.
Crew training
  • Crew training (as in any airline) is of vital importance, with emergency training for cabin crew covering written confirmation of knowledge regarding emergency measures, daily safety tasks, emergency equipment, and various equipment.
  • Crew also go through case studies where there is door training for each type of equipment (land and at sea scenarios), and comprehensive exercises that cover the occurrence of an emergency to evacuation, where operating crew members undergo joint training.
  • Cabin crew undergo training once a year in regular rescue training.
  • There is also emergency evacuation training for flight deck crew (pilots) which covers general rescue procedures, aviation security, instructions for door and emergency equipment usage for each aircraft type, and emergency evacuation methods.
  • There is aircraft type transition training as well as regular rescue training that is conducted jointly with cabin crew.
  • These involve a few case studies using an emergency situation based on past incidents (learning from accident examples and conducting discussions), and a series of case studies (sudden, on-land, sea, and anticipated scenarios) which goes through the complete process, from the occurrence of an emergency to evacuation/resolution.
Safety improvements
  • Each year, crew members also receive recurrent training and testing in emergency evacuation procedures, which are increasingly being done in cabin simulators that can replicate the conditions that a crew member may encounter during an evacuation including limited visibility due to smoke, and unusual attitudes an aircraft may be in after an incident.
  • The simulators allow the airlines to replicate the various scenarios that crew members may face.
  • The Flight Safety Foundation also shared Federal Aviation Administration directives, on changes made in cabin materials and structures over the years.
  • The first is improved flammability of seat cushions, with a FAA rule (1984) requiring that cushions installed on seats comply with a more stringent flammability test standard using a ‘2 gallon per hour’ kerosene burner.
  • The rule applied to all new transport aircraft certification programmes, which was later extended to aircraft manufactured on or after November 26, 1987.
  • The new material was found to provide up to a minute more of additional time for evacuation when compared to earlier.
  • All existing aircraft seats in the U.S. meet the improved standards. And the international aviation community too has followed these standards, the Flight Safety Foundation says.
  • The second is floor proximity emergency escape path marking. The FAA found that this could improve the evacuation rate by 20% in a situation where there is much smoke in the cabin.
  • The third and fourth are lavatory smoke detectors and lavatory fire extinguishers, introduced in 1986 and 1987, respectively. These are automatic devices.
  • The fifth is the use of halon fire extinguishers (since 1986), where the FAA requirement is of having halon extinguishers on board in addition to the other required extinguishers.
  • The sixth is cargo compartment liners which test the burn through resistance fire test criteria for compartment ceiling and wall liners.
  • The seventh is the use of improved interior materials for large surface area panels such as the walls and even overhead bins. The aim was to delay a flash fire, thus giving passengers and crew more time to evacuate.
  • The standard was that after the year 1990, all panels would pass the standard for reduced heat release as well as a smoke emissions test standard.
  • The eighth area of improvement was the use of better seats. Under FAA regulations, seats were to comply with the 16g dynamic standard (from the year 2009).
  • The ninth is improved access to exits, especially Type III (over wing), where there were specific minimum standards for the passageway from the aisle to the exit. As a result, tests showed a better evacuation rate — almost 14% faster than earlier.
  • The tenth area is cargo compartment fire detection/suppression which was made mandatory in passenger aircraft since 2001.
  • Finally, there were changes to thermal/acoustic insulation in order to meet to meet a new flame propagation standard (from 1999). There was also another test standard for the resistance of the insulation to burn through from an external fire made mandatory for aircraft being flown in the U.S.
Source- The Hindu

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