Bookshelf

Abstract

Neville Birch Fire, following an aircraft accident, generates many life‐threatening hazards. Hitherto, it has been the tendency of research agencies to examine means of suppressing substantive problems when the key problem is the combination of a variety of potentially lethal factors. The survival time of passengers within a burning aircraft may be prolonged against smoke and toxic gases by, for example, the provision and use of smoke hoods, but if passengers are not protected against rapid temperature rise, the time bought by the first may be of no avail against the second. In this book, Neville Birch seeks to improve the effectiveness of facilities and equipment within the aircraft (or available to it) by the application of practical principles. The work first reviews the state of the art, identifying the factors affecting an aircraft evacuation, focusing on those factors which appear following the onset of fire viz. smoke, generation of toxic gases, heat and the very real risk of flashover. It then proposes, takes forward and to a degree unites specific measures which individually and collectively combat these hazards, all of which are possible in the near term and at relatively low cost.

Citation

(1994), "Bookshelf", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 66 No. 6, pp. 43-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb037533