On July 6, 2013, Asiana flight 214 was on approach to land at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, when they struck a seawall and crashed. Out of the 291 passengers only three were fatally injured while “40 passengers, 8 of the 12 flight attendants, and 3 flight crewmembers received serious injuries” *. Had it not been for the Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) personnel working diligently to save the lives of the survivors, many more lives would have been lost due to post-crash hazards and injuries.
SFO is owned and operated by the city of San Francisco and as of the end of December 2012; the airport had conducted 430,812 total aircraft operations. The SFO is a large airport with four paved runways
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The SFFD-AB has seven ARFF vehicles and out of those seven, three were designed for structural firefighting, and the remaining four are used for ARFF missions. Three of the ARFF vehicles are known as “Oshkosh Striker 4500s” and two of these vehicles are fitted with “65 ft. high-reach extendable turrets (HRET) with piercing nozzles” *. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, “Each of the Strikers is manned by two firefighters had a capacity of 4,500 gallons of water, 630 gallons of foam, 460 lbs. of dry chemical, and 500 lbs. of Halotron” *. The SFO fourth ARFF vehicle is an Oshkosh 3000 with “3,000 gallons of water, 420 gallons of foam, and 460 lbs. of dry chemical” that is manned by two firefighters and a …show more content…
The SFO also maintains two medical personnel vehicles to aid in the rescue efforts during a mishap, and these vehicles are manned by a driver/emergency medical technician and a paramedic. Airport personnel must utilize the ARFF equipment during exercises that are mandated by the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) every so many months. Only through the use of the AEP is an airport truly put to the test to see if they’re ready for an actual aircraft
The bombing of the World Trade Center was nicknamed “the Big One”, causing a sixteen alarm fire. FEMA’s Incident Commander (IC) arrived on the scene at 12:48 and began assessing what needed to be done: over 50,000 people needed to be evacuated, thick black smoke was filling the building and could not stopped, numerous people were trapped in elevators and personnel on the top floors were breaking glass raining it down on personnel on the ground.
So you are a new recruit/rookie/probies. Well then congrats on your achievement of completing the fire academy training. Remember everyone was once in your shoes. When you are hired on to a department. The people of that department, you could be serving with for maybe 10 or more years. To help prepare you for your career in the fire service here is ten thing you must know.
# Coleman, Ronny J., et al.Fighter's Handbook: Essentials of Firefighting and Emergency Response. Delmar/Thompson Learning, Stamford, CT, 2000.
This tragic accident was preventable by not only the flight crew, but maintenance and air traffic control personnel as well. On December 29, 1972, ninety-nine of the one hundred and seventy-six people onboard lost their lives needlessly. As is the case with most accidents, this one was certainly preventable. This accident is unique because of the different people that could have prevented it from happening. The NTSB determined that “the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the flightcrew.” This is true; the flight crew did fail, however, others share the responsibility for this accident. Equally responsible where maintenance personnel, an Air Traffic Controllers, the system, and a twenty cent light bulb. What continues is a discussion on, what happened, why it happened, what to do about it and what was done about it.
This preventable event , which claimed the life of a crew of seven, left many
...g. The biggest thing is funding education. You have to start at the very base of things and education is there. With funding for future generations you can create a more effective resiliency plan because people have the knowledge to do so. For an example we can take the notorious wild fires that happens in Mt. Charleston about an hour outside of Las Vegas. It full of green pine tress that are also very try and very flammable. With more education we can have the knowledge to prevent fires, train more people to handle them, or even create a more effective plane that releases chemicals to put out the fire. Right now the only thing Las Vegas does is tell the pilot coordinates of the fire and then drop chemicals there. We can create a more effective plan that would improve the transportation of the planes along with the communication between the pilot and firefighters.
Envision yourself in a deep sleep, your spouse lying next to you. For seven years of marriage, your greatest quandary has been your partners obnoxious snoring. Now, you are rattled awake by the wailing of your smoke detector, just outside your bedroom door. You hear the sobbing of your three month old baby boy from just down the hall, and feel the tug of you five year old son on the sleeve of your t-shirt. Forced out the second story window by the fuming blaze barricading the only outlet of the room, you free fall 22 feet onto the frozen ground. Beyond smoke inhalation and second degree burns, you now have a fractured ankle and several severe lacerations. Your spouse, your eldest son, and yourself are now free from the bloodthirsty inferno. Sirens howl, two blocks away. A rescue engine, equipped with three firefighters, is first on scene- 18 minute response time. A second engine arrives, equipped with three firefighters- 23 minute response time. Twenty-five minutes after the initial alarm, a hand line is pulled. Incident commander declares the residence unsafe for entrance. This rescue mission has now become a recovery mission.
Firefighters are more than friends. You can't fight fires with friends. To fight fires you need a brotherhood. The men and women of the fire service across the globe consider each other family, this is one of the grand traditions of the fire department. Firefighters are constantly looking out for one another, thinking about the things they do and how it may affect the other’s lives and safety. Life safety is of the highest priority in the business of fire rescue. To achieve a safety standard there are many tasks that fire personnel are expected to carry out, for both a personal and a team related purpose. One of these tasks is the daily inspection of the fire apparatus upon arrival to the fire station. This task is with most certainty the most essential process that fire personnel are responsible for in order to get through the shift safely and efficiently.
On Sept. 11, 2001, A date that will live in infamy for Americans, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City. At 8:48 a.m. flight 11 crashed into the north tower. As it continued to burn a second plane flight 175 carrying 65 people crashed into the south tower around 9:05 a.m.. as smoke and debris fill the air in New York City after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Police officers and rescue workers on the disaster scene in New York are covered in Ash that was two to three inches deep in places. People wandered dazed and terrified, Several firefighters coated with dust sat on the ground gasping for breath. One top fire official was asked if both towers had completely collapsed: "You can see what I can see, " he responded. "We just have no idea." At least 202 firefighters and possibly up to 350 are missing,
January 15, 2009 a plane took off from New York’s LaGuardia and on its way to Charlotte, North Carolina. (“Editors,Chesley”) (“Airplane Crash-lands”)Part way through the flight a flock of geese hit the plane, damaging both engines and the thrust no longer worked. Immediately,
In 2005, Congress reauthorized the legislation for the NHTSA. Under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equality Act: A Legacy for Users or SAFETEA-LU, Congress then created the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services. The EMS system today is still a serious career that is competitive to get into. Medical Assistance is integrated into Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters, and anyone in public safety because it’s an honorable career and works to improve the safety of the community in which we live in.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
Air Crash Investigations: Cockpit Failure (S10E01). (2014, March 5). Retrieved May 19, 2014, from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1FG8gOKMoo
Simmon, David A. (1998). Boeing 757 CFIT Accident at Cali, Columbia, Becomes Focus of Lessons Learned. Flight Safety Digest.
Through the years, as aircraft have become more complex, and numerous threats to aviation safety have been identified, a culture of unwavering professionalism and safety consciousness have become engrained into the ethical framework of aviation organizations. Since the initial establishment aviation operational and safety standards, multiple civilian and military aviation organizations have continuously contributed efforts towards looking for new and innovative ways to raise the bar on efficiency of flight operations and aviation safety through CRM. CRM is a vital tool to improving safety in aviation organizations and i...