Aircraft fire controls tighter

Press, 29 March 1985, Page 17

Aircraft fire controls tighter

NZPA-AP Washington The United States Transportation Department has ordered airlines in the United States to install smoke detectors in lavatories of all their large aircraft within 18 months to give pilots early warning of an in-flight fire that may not be easily detected. The regulation, part of a series of proposals aimed at providing airline passengers with better protection against fire, also would require airliners to have automatic fire extinguishers in lavatory trash receptacles and additional hand-held fire extinguishers in the cabin:

Aviation safety groups for years have been pushing for additional safeguards against fires aboard aircraft.

The efforts were renewed after a fire aboard an Air Canada jetliner which killed 23 people in June 1983, as the plane made an emergency landing at Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ironically, the Air Canada plane had a fire extinguisher in the trash receptacle of the lavatory where the fire began. Investigators were unable to determine what caused

the fire, although they have speculated that a flush motor may have been responsible.

Under the new rules, airlines must install smoke detectors in the lavatories of all commercial jetliners within 18 months. The automatic fire extinguishers must be put in lavatory trash bins within two years.