ricfly777
5th Jul 2023, 17:12
Recent event about PAX evac due hot brakes makes us think and I have questions:
why airline operational departments/training does not provide better guidelines in alignment with local airport fire departments ?
At least in the operational base
As a B777 Captain, I have the same lack of understanding of what would be the most effective action.
additionally, I have no information about fire crews actions in regards to brake cooling procedures….
is there any procedure they are trained to implement for brake cooling?
In my mind, I would: vacate stop in the runway, set parting brake, advise crew for alert (possible evacuation), turn on APU, request coordination with tower/fire command to vacate the runway, stop, shutdown engines, release parking brake. Keep the alert until brakes are cold enough, request towing to a gate.
we have approximately 10/15 min for brakes to reach top temperatures and we can use this time, however, there are no guidelines that I have heard about.
fire brigade may use any agent to help cool the brakes ? What would it be? Should we request for it?
this “stopping in the runway” may not be necessary, as we have a considerable time until brake temp becomes an issue, and tires deflates, so why not create a guideline? We will mostly stop in the runway because this is “expected” and we will likely be criticized if we don’t. Stopping in the runway may, in most cases, be a waste of time and efficiency. But it may be considered “procedural” and even as captains, we are not that much entitled to decide for the best course of action, even when no harm resulted.
I would like to know more.
why airline operational departments/training does not provide better guidelines in alignment with local airport fire departments ?
At least in the operational base
As a B777 Captain, I have the same lack of understanding of what would be the most effective action.
additionally, I have no information about fire crews actions in regards to brake cooling procedures….
is there any procedure they are trained to implement for brake cooling?
In my mind, I would: vacate stop in the runway, set parting brake, advise crew for alert (possible evacuation), turn on APU, request coordination with tower/fire command to vacate the runway, stop, shutdown engines, release parking brake. Keep the alert until brakes are cold enough, request towing to a gate.
we have approximately 10/15 min for brakes to reach top temperatures and we can use this time, however, there are no guidelines that I have heard about.
fire brigade may use any agent to help cool the brakes ? What would it be? Should we request for it?
this “stopping in the runway” may not be necessary, as we have a considerable time until brake temp becomes an issue, and tires deflates, so why not create a guideline? We will mostly stop in the runway because this is “expected” and we will likely be criticized if we don’t. Stopping in the runway may, in most cases, be a waste of time and efficiency. But it may be considered “procedural” and even as captains, we are not that much entitled to decide for the best course of action, even when no harm resulted.
I would like to know more.