A Study of Air Transport Passenger Cabin Fires and Materials

摘要

A study of the combustion characteristics of aircraft cabin interior materials was made to establish the relative fire hazards inherent in aircraft. Standard laboratory tests were conducted on each of the cabin interior materials used in a four engine civil transport to determine their flammability, smoke and toxic characteristics. In addition to the laboratory test, fire tests were conducted 'in situ' inside an airplane fuselage at different locations to determine the relative ease with which the materials would ignite and burn. In these tests, time for self-ignition, rapidity of flame spread, extent of burned area, smoke and toxic gas produced were obtained for various sizes of ignition sources with and without normal ventilation. A study revealed that the most important factor affecting the degree of fire hazard present inside an aircraft cabin was the flammability of the material in which fire originates. It was shown that materials which have superior self-extinguishing properties are poor ignition sources and confer a high degree of fire protection to the aircraft interior. In the large-scale fire tests, it was shown that the interior materials used in a passenger cabin can produce a flash fire with little or no warning. Heat, smoke and toxic gases generated by the fire up to about the time of the flash fire were low compared to human survival limits. (Author)