What happens if there is a fire in the cargo hold of a plane?

Typically, cargo fire suppression systems have an initial high-rate knockdown discharge, followed by a low-rate metered discharge of Halon 1301, designed to keep the fire suppressed for continued safe flight and landing at the nearest suitable airport. Halon can be discharged into the forward or aft cargo compartment.



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So, yes you can survive. Stowing away in the wheel well is almost certain death. Some cargo holds are pressurized and some are not. people have survived in non-pressurized holds and people have died in non-pressurized holds.

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Without aggressive intervention by the flight crew, a fire on board an aircraft can lead to the catastrophic loss of that aircraft within a very short space of time. Once a fire has become established, it is unlikely that the crew will be able to extinguish it.

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The initial action for dealing with a fire in a cargo hold will be the same regardless of whether a ship is at sea or in port. Upon discovering such a fire, either visually or through the smoke detector, the Emergency Alarm must be sounded at once and the Emergency Party mustered.

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The initial action for dealing with a fire in a cargo hold will be the same regardless of whether a ship is at sea or in port. Upon discovering such a fire, either visually or through the smoke detector, the Emergency Alarm must be sounded at once and the Emergency Party mustered.

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Based on the information provided by the detection warnings, flight crew initiate the suppression of any fire by discharge of Halon gas into the affected cargo compartments. Halon is a very effective suppression agent which operates by chemically reacting with the radicals generated by a fire, to inhibit the reaction.

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Aerial firefighting operations during a wildfire typically run from sunrise to sunset.

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Phos-Chek: The Fire Retardant Dropped From Planes As firefighters work to contain these blazes, air tankers drop fire retardant on the flames to reduce their intensity. Phos-Chek, a fertilizer-based liquid, is one of the most commonly used fire retardants dropped from planes.

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You should have no concerns about temperatures in the cargo hold. According to a 1996 New York Times story, Federal Aviation Administration tests showed that temperatures inside pressurized luggage compartments ranged from 65 to 70 degrees, comparable to passenger compartments.

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Many things including bottles containing liquids break when the temperature drops below zero, so the cargo hold is always maintained above freezing; 7°C is typical (source). This applies to both pure cargo aircraft and mixed passenger/cargo airplanes.

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Planes have headlights so that pilots can see what is in front of them. Unfortunately, they are only effective during takeoffs and landings. Even with the slight illumination offered by the headlights, only darkness is visible when looking out the front window of a cockpit.

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Airlines find that fuel dumping can actually be cheaper than not dumping in certain circumstances. But it's not something pilots do on a routine basis. We spoke with Alison Duquette, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who assured us that it doesn't happen very often.

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Fuel dumping (or a fuel jettison) is a procedure used by aircraft in certain emergency situations before a return to the airport shortly after takeoff, or before landing short of the intended destination (emergency landing) to reduce the aircraft's weight.

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The true answer is that pilots don't see much when flying at night. For the human eye to perceive things, it needs light and something for that light to reflect off. Obviously, the one thing pilots don't want to see is something in front of them. The aircraft lights aren't actually much use either.

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A Water Mist Lance consists of a tube with a piercing nozzle that is capable of penetrating a container wall, producing a water mist inside the container when connected to the fire main. The Lance is a perfect way to fight container fires safely.

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