Crash worthy fuel tanks
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Crash worthy fuel tanks
As reported today in USA Today, has this topic been on this forum before apart from the discussions about Robinson fuel tanks.
NTSB urges fire- resistant tanks for helicopters
USA TODAY International Edition28 Aug 2015Thomas Frank
Half a century after aviation officials first grew concerned about people burning to death in helicopter crashes, a federal safety agency urged the installation of equipment that would prevent fuel leaks that have caused hundreds of fires, leading to scores of deaths and serious injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a July 23 letter, urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require rugged, crash- resistant fuel systems in all newly built civilian helicopters. Similar systems have been used in Army helicopters since the 1970s.
Fires have long been a helicopter hazard because they erupt after low- impact crashes and hard landings that pilots and passengers would survive if they weren’t engulfed in flames or smoke. A USA TODAY investigation in 2014 found that 79 people had been killed and 28 injured by helicopter fires that occurred after low- impact crashes.
The NTSB pointed to the fiery crash Oct. 4 of a medical helicopter in Texas that caused a flight nurse and a paramedic to die from burns. In March, a helicopter pilot died from smoke inhalation and trauma after a crash in Mississippi that left a passenger with extensive burns.
The Army, facing major helicopter casualties in the Vietnam War, virtually eliminated the fires by installing high- strength, flexible fuel tanks and fuel lines that avoid rupture. The civilian sector has been slower to respond,
“It’s a huge loophole,” said Gary Robb, a Kansas City, Mo., personal- injury lawyer who represents a paramedic who was burned across 90% of his body July 3 when his medical helicopter crashed and burned in Colorado. “He would have walked away if this proposal had been implemented years ago. But he was horribly burned in the post- crash fire because of the defective fuelsystem configuration.”
Even if the FAA accepts the recommendation, many of the roughly 10,000 helicopters flown in the USA would continue to operate for years or decades with easily ruptured fuel systems.
Installing a rugged fuel system on a new helicopter increases the manufacturing cost by 1% to 2%, said Tom Harris, the recently retired CEO of Robertson Fuel Systems, which makes crash- resistant tanks. Harris said that requiring the systems on new helicopters might encourage owners to add them to their old helicopters.
NTSB urges fire- resistant tanks for helicopters
USA TODAY International Edition28 Aug 2015Thomas Frank
Half a century after aviation officials first grew concerned about people burning to death in helicopter crashes, a federal safety agency urged the installation of equipment that would prevent fuel leaks that have caused hundreds of fires, leading to scores of deaths and serious injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a July 23 letter, urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require rugged, crash- resistant fuel systems in all newly built civilian helicopters. Similar systems have been used in Army helicopters since the 1970s.
Fires have long been a helicopter hazard because they erupt after low- impact crashes and hard landings that pilots and passengers would survive if they weren’t engulfed in flames or smoke. A USA TODAY investigation in 2014 found that 79 people had been killed and 28 injured by helicopter fires that occurred after low- impact crashes.
The NTSB pointed to the fiery crash Oct. 4 of a medical helicopter in Texas that caused a flight nurse and a paramedic to die from burns. In March, a helicopter pilot died from smoke inhalation and trauma after a crash in Mississippi that left a passenger with extensive burns.
The Army, facing major helicopter casualties in the Vietnam War, virtually eliminated the fires by installing high- strength, flexible fuel tanks and fuel lines that avoid rupture. The civilian sector has been slower to respond,
“It’s a huge loophole,” said Gary Robb, a Kansas City, Mo., personal- injury lawyer who represents a paramedic who was burned across 90% of his body July 3 when his medical helicopter crashed and burned in Colorado. “He would have walked away if this proposal had been implemented years ago. But he was horribly burned in the post- crash fire because of the defective fuelsystem configuration.”
Even if the FAA accepts the recommendation, many of the roughly 10,000 helicopters flown in the USA would continue to operate for years or decades with easily ruptured fuel systems.
Installing a rugged fuel system on a new helicopter increases the manufacturing cost by 1% to 2%, said Tom Harris, the recently retired CEO of Robertson Fuel Systems, which makes crash- resistant tanks. Harris said that requiring the systems on new helicopters might encourage owners to add them to their old helicopters.
