Fire extinguishers, yes ,no ,maybe

[Piloto]

My is underneath pilot side panel. Easy access and out of reach for passengers (kids).

 

José

[MARZ]

Lesson learned -

I recently put windows in my F - during the course of installing them 300 some screws nuts and brackets I was moving my somewhat ungraceful body around in the rear seat. 

I had (operative word - had) a 5 pound abc extinguisher on the floor area in front of the rear seats - with my attention turned to the window I repositioned my foot - knocked off the pressure gauge on the extinguisher and fogged the interior of the plane.

I can tell you that had that extinguisher discharged in the air, purposely or not, it would have been the one and only link in a loss of control accident.   I was totally incapacitated by the dry chemical, couldn't see and couldn't breathe.

Halon would/will be the only option.

BTW - clean up took the better part of an entire day.

[fantom]

Quote: maropers

I can tell you that had that extinguisher discharged in the air, purposely or not, it would have been the one and only link in a loss of control accident.   I was totally incapacitated by the dry chemical, couldn't see and couldn't breathe.

BTW - clean up took the better part of an entire day.

[MARZ]

I hear you Gary - only thing with me is I don't have an auto pilot, I fear my outcome would not have been good, so for now I'm sans extinguisher.

[jetdriven]

Back in 2004, we had a Beech 1900D take off on a muggy summer afternoon from some airport in Kansas. Right after liftoff, a passenger spotted smoke coming from the floor vents, grabbed the fire extinguisher, yelled "fire" and emptied the bottle into the floor vents. Smoke was everywhere.  Freaking pandemonium. The pilots, reacting to this commotion, declared an emergency, did a 45 degree banked 180, and landed downwind on the departure runway, set the brake, killed the engines, hit the gang bar, and evacuated the passengers on the runway. This was all over in 3 minutes.

The fire department arrived in short order and could find no fire. Turns out the "smoke" was condensation from the air conditioning.  Chief pilot memo soon followed.

[MARZ]

We have "fun" in the company Hawker with folks along the same line - the AC in the back blows fog and after a bit snow until the cabin air drys out - any new to the plane folks are put in the rear facing seats to witness the event. 

[tomn]

I have mounted a Halon extinguisher to the front seat handle of my E model.  I used two split collars that fit the handle tube diameter bolted to the extinguisher bracket.  This allows it to sit under my legs in a securely mounted position while still leaving enough room to grab the handle.  I think its worth having - not much expense considering the value it can provide if needed.

[mulro767]

I had an RT A400 installed on the floor in front of the pilot's seat. It is completely out of the way.  My seat slides forward and covers most of it.  Passengers don't notice it either.  It's just peace of mind knowing that it's there.  I think of it more as a post crash survival tool than an in flight emergency tool.  I really hope to toss it out in 12 years and get another one.

[marks]

On Oct. 15th 2004 I had a serious fire inside my engine compartment in my '83 Beech Sierra. I was in hard IMC and the fire burned the leads to the spark plugs and killed the engine. I also lost both vacuum and back-up vacuum. I had left Cape Cod (Hyannis) and was headed back to Martha's Vineyard my home field. I was over the water and had to make a U-turn to get back to land. I managed to crash on the 6th fairway of the Hyannisport Golf Course during the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Gold Tournament. Live TV from WBZ Boston was there as well as many sports heros and other celebrities. A mechanic who wasn't my regular, fixed a hot mag but failed to reconnect the fuel pressure guage resulting in fuel thinly spraying into the engine bay and when the exhaust manifold was hot enough I felt the flare up in my ears and fire took over with smoke coming up through the defrosters. - - I tell this story because when fire is in the engine you need to focus on flying and landing the aircraft. Know the maximum glide airspeeds for your bird based on weight and determine where you're going to go. If it works out that you have some extra free time and have good control, then maybe spraying stuff in the cockpit will have minimal effect on the other side of the firewall, but I doubt the use of a fire extinguisher in the cabin.

[Bennett]

For what it is worth, I have been able to get "old formula" Halon from dedicated fire extinguisher recharging shops. They salvage old halon units, recover the halon, and refill Halon extingushers FOR AIRCRAFT only. I've been told that the old formulation is more effective in small spaces like an aircraft cockpit, and that aircraft storage is so small a total that it is not an environmental problem. I've also have 6 Halon units on my boat (new formula) in various compartments as I am very anal about fires on boats ( and being a professional risk management consultant) makes me even more cautious.

[Bennett]

One last point about smoke in the cockpit. I carry, and have always done so in my aircraft , two commercial smoke hoods with real filters against all sorts of smoke components. These are not cheap, but I value my life more than their cost. They are either Swiss or German, I would have to check, These are quick don hoods with high temp plastic viewing ports and carbon canisters that snap out into position. They pack down to about 2" x 6" x 8" and have their own case. I keep them in the seat back pockets I hope I never need them, but they are there and just might prove to be a life saver.

[Antoni Deighton]

<p>I can tell you that had that extinguisher discharged in the air, purposely or not, it would have been the one and only link in a loss of control accident. I was totally incapacitated by the dry chemical, couldn't see and couldn't breathe.</p>

Surely the other (earlier) link in the chain would have been trying to replace the windows in your F model while flying? ;-) (just kidding)