US cargo containment firm Amsafe says major air cargo players have expressed interest in its special fire containment covers.
The covers are designed to improve safety on cargo aircraft by isolating individual pallets under a special fire retardant cover. The company declines to comment on the specific composition of the covers, however.
FedEx is trialling the covers, and two other major air cargo companies are very interested, says Amsafe.
The peril of fire aboard cargo aircraft was highlighted on 3 September 2010. Both pilots on a UPS 747-400 freighter were killed after attempting to return to Dubai, the flight's departure point, after a fire alert and the spread of smoke into the cockpit while in cruise over Bahrain.
Though terrorism was ruled out, the exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined. The incident, however, prompted the US FAA to draw up new procedures for handling lithium batteries, which had been part of the cargo.
Amsafe says current aircraft fire protection systems using halon or foam are distributed unevenly relative to pallets. In any case aircraft can only carry limited amounts of fire retardants.
By isolating each pallet with its own fire retardant cover, however, the company says operators can significantly decrease the risk of a fire spreading in an aircraft's hold. The covers weigh 58kg, compared with 20kg for a typical pallet cover, but Amsafe says the covers' contribution to safety more than compensates for this.
Madhara Magitigama, the Sri Lanka-based engineering manager of Amsafe, notes that the covers have to serve two roles, providing both fire protection and restraint. "The final product meets these conflicting requirements and ultimately remains simple to use," she says. "This was the goal."
Source: Flight Daily News
