MOBILE AIRCRAFT FIREFIGHTING TRAINING DEVICE (MAFTD)
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| Overview: | The Mobile Aircraft Firefighting Training Device (MAFTD) provides a live aircraft firefighting experience for civil service, military, and civilian firefighters. Unlike the traditional method of open-pit burning with fuel oil, it utilizes propane to simulate an actual event. In addition, the MAFTD is environmentally friendly. Many open-pit training sites, on the other hand, can generate air, soil, and water pollutants that raise environmental and compliance issues, and many have been forced to cease operations. The lack of live-fire training, however, could diminish crash crew readiness and compromise aircrew safety.
The MAFTD may be used at various locations (as long as it meets requirements for set up and training), and the NAVY MAFTD has provisions for hoisting onboard ships. It features a 40-50 feet long, stainless steel aircraft mock-up that is mounted on a trailer, which is attached to a tow vehicle. The mock-up offers a multitude of systems and equipment that can be used during live-fire training evolutions and maintenance. It complies with Department of Transportation requirements for highway transportation. The MAFTD offers several training variations from simple to more complex training scenarios. It allows the operator to inject only fire, fire and smoke, or just smoke from a combination of eleven locations [e.g., wheel, flashover (in cabin area), and high wing engine]. Firefighters train using turrets, hand-lines, or combinations of both. The MFTD also features a variety of entrances for rescue personnel. In general, the more closely a training situation resembles an actual event, the better a trainee will be able to apply lessons learned in training. In the case of aircraft accidents, actual fire events will most likely involve fossil fuels such as JP-5. To simulate fossil fuel fires, flames should appear yellow, luminous, and the radiant heating effect should be similar. The yellow color in most flames is typically generated by soot found in many types of fuel. Luminous flames also radiate from 20 to 120 percent more energy than non-luminous flames, and radiated heat generally accounts for 10 to 40 percent of the total heat generated by gas fires. Propane is a relatively pure fuel and when burned does not create as much soot as fossil fuels. However, when burned in an oxygen-poor environment, which is the case in the MAFTD, soot is created. As a result, the propane gives off a yellow, luminescent flame. This soot, which is eventually burned in the flame, also radiates enough heat to be similar to the way heat radiates from fuel flames. The concept of building and fielding a MAFTD was introduced and developed by a Navy team. Naval Air Warfare Center; UTRS, Inc.; and NAVSTA Norfolk demonstrated a prototype MAFTD at 15 installations. During the course of the field demonstrations, approximately 1,250 civil service, military, and civilian firefighters participated in multiple training evolutions. The MAFTD received excellent reviews from the various firefighter training departments on the quality of the crash and rescue training provided. |
| Compliance Benefit: |
The MAFTD was found to meet the requirements for live aircraft firefighting training as delineated in NAVAIR 00-80R-14, U.S. Navy Aircraft Firefighting and Rescue Manual, and Naval Aviation Training and Operational Procedures (NATOPS) 80-R-0014.
The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as general guidelines and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g., the amount of workload involved. |
| Materials Compatibility: |
No materials compatibility issues were identified.
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| Safety and Health: |
Each individual service has standard procedures already in use for fire protection and safety practices. These procedures must be followed as well as the standard operating procedures for the MAFTD, including the use of proper personal protective equipment.
In conjunction with the safety procedures, the MAFTD is equipped with several safety features:
Consult your local industrial health specialist, your local health and safety personnel, and the appropriate MSDS prior to implementing any of these technologies. |
| Benefits: |
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| Disadvantages: |
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| Economic Analysis: | The National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE), which is operated by Concurrent Technologies Corporation, was tasked by the U.S. Navy to evaluate the MAFTD. NDCEE conducted an economic analysis for NS Mayport, Florida, comparing the baseline (open-pit) training to the alternative (MAFTD) training. MAFTD costs and assumptions are listed below (based on 1999 estimates). These costs are based on estimates of use in the Navy’s Southeast Region, where a MAFTD was purchased and is housed at NS Mayport. Assumptions:
Economic Analysis Summary:
Other areas of potential savings include the following:
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| NSN/MSDS: | None identified.
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| Approving Authority: | Appropriate authority for making process changes should always be sought and obtained prior to procuring or implementing any of the technology identified herein.
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| Points of Contact: | For more information |
| Vendors: | This is not meant to be a complete list, as there may be
other suppliers of this type of equipment.
Pro-Safe Fire Training Systems, Inc.
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| Sources: |
Concurrent Technologies Corporation.
Navy Environmental Leadership Program; Summary Report of Mobile Aircraft Firefighting
Training Device (Task 2). May 18, 2000. Crowson, Fred, et al, Mobile Aircraft Firefighting Training Device, Live Fire Training, Project Summary, Universal Technical Resource Services, Inc. (UTRS), Lakehurst, NJ, April 1998.
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| Supplemental: |
Firefighters in proximity gear from NAS Brunswick, Maine, training with the MAFTD.
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