Quote:
"Halon 1301, the fire suppression agent installed in transport category aircraft, is ineffective in suppressing or extinguishing a primary lithium battery fire. Halon 1301 appears to chemically interact with the burning lithium and electrolyte, causing a color change in the molten lithium sparks, turning them a deep red instead of the normal white. This chemical interaction has no effect on battery fire duration or intensity.
The air temperature in a cargo compartment that has had a fire suppressed by Halon 1301 can still be above the autoignition temperature of lithium. Because of this, batteries that were not involved in the initial fire can still ignite and propagate.
The ignition of a primary lithium battery releases burning electrolyte and a molten lithium spray. The cargo liner material may be vulnerable to perforation by molten lithium, depending on its thickness. This can allow the Halon 1301 fire suppressant agent to leak out of the compartment, reducing the concentration within the cargo compartment and the effectiveness of the agent. Holes in the cargo liner may also allow flames to spread outside the compartment."
Is it possible if an aircraft still used a Halon fire suppression system, that, in the course of fighting a Lithium-Ion battery fire, that all the Halon might be emptied from the tanks and extinguishers in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire, and all the Halon expelled displaced enough oxygen aboard the aircraft, to make everyone pass out? I know in places I've worked that employed Halon fire suppression, there was an audible alarm along with a strobe light that warned that the Halon system was about to go off, and you had a certain number of seconds to either get out or disable a false alarm, because you couldn't breathe, once the Halon came out.