Wings of the crashed plane
Hello Friends!
EVEN before the pilot of the ill-fated Dana aircraft sent out the Mayday emergency distress signal just minutes before the plane crash-landed on a residential settlement in Iju-Isaga area of Lagos on Sunday June 3, 2012, there was already growing global concerns about aircraft safety and the management of mishap responses whenever they occur.
The reason for this was not far-fetched. By all standards, Nigeria had already had its fair share of fatalities arising from airline disasters in the last decade or so, concerns about management of potentially hazardous effects arising from accidents, such as the latest in question, were not exactly new.
But what could be described as new is the level of worry from utilisation of fibre-reinforced composites in primary and secondary structural components in construction of most modern commercial aircraft.
Vanguard Features, VF, gathered that fibre-reinforced polymer composites are lightweight functional substitutes for metals in civilian and military aircraft with a superior strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance; because they are lighter than their metallic counterparts, they are preferred.
But a downside to this development is the tendency to invoke aviation fuel-induced fires combined or not combined with explosion of the fiber-reinforced composite materials. According to aviation experts, such developments have high predisposition to present known and potentially unknown environmental, safety, and health hazards.
Besides the immediate trauma from fire and crushing impact of the crash, the danger of exposure to airborne carbon fibers that are released in the post crash fires are a force to contend with. Findings by VF reveal that potential dangers to the environment from the crashed Dana aircraft may not have ended with extinguishing of the fires or evacuation of the bodies.
Investigation shows there may still be need to worry over the three basic health hazards from fibre-reinforced polymer composites in any plane crash-fire situation. Apart from dangers from sharp splinters of exposed material, there is the need to be concerned about inhalation of fibrous dust dispersed by the fire or blast, and the toxic gases generated during burning of polymer matrix resins incinerated in the aircraft structure.
Inhalation hazard from these fibers, it was gathered, poses the greatest potential for adverse health effects on humans, says a medical expert who confirmed to VF that exposure to smaller particles such as asbestos can cause conditions ranging from pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma – a type of cancer of the lungs, noting that chronic toxicity is associated with this type of exposure.
Past airline crashes
Unknown to many, incidents from past airline crashes have actually reported on the irritant and toxic effects from fibrous matter and other adverse health effects by firefighters and rescue personnel responding to post crash aircraft fires. These range from skin and eye irritation to severe respiratory problems.
For instance, firefighters, rescue crew and other emergency personnel and even bystanders express concerns about long-term effects from these exposures.
Potential health risks are normally associated with fires involving fiber-reinforced polymer composites include the fibrous dust and airborne particles released during burning that can be inhaled and deposited in the deep lung region and the sharp fiber fragments that penetrate the skin.
Reports concerning the nature and severity of short and long term adverse effects are now rife. Records of varying degrees of adverse health effects, ranging from eye and skin irritation to severe respiratory problems are not uncommon.
An aviation expert told VF that the primary fire hazard of interior and secondary composites used in aircraft cabin and fuselage components are the heat release rate and the toxicity of the gaseous combustion products from the burning polymer matrix.
Aircraft cabin occupants are exposed to this hazard even during an impact-survivable accident. No doubt, the incineration of external structural aircraft components results in hazardous conditions for fire, rescue personnel and investigation and recovery teams in the immediate post crash situation.
Things such as release of a mixture of gaseous, particulate, and fibrous combustion products of unknown composition poses unique protection problems due to lack of proper understanding of the hazards related to composite materials.
The short and long term health effects from combustion of organic materials become airborne during the burning of structural applications in fibre-reinforced polymer composites in commercial transport aircraft structures is another hazard on which information is required.
In the wake of the Dana airline disaster, adoption of conservative protection measures in absence of detailed knowledge of the health effects of carbon fibers released in aircraft fires is desperately desired.
Inhalation hazard from these fibers, it was gathered, poses the greatest potential for adverse health effects on humans, says a medical expert who confirmed to VF that exposure to smaller particles such as asbestos can cause conditions ranging from pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma – a type of cancer of the lungs, noting that chronic toxicity is associated with this type of exposure.
Past airline crashes
Unknown to many, incidents from past airline crashes have actually reported on the irritant and toxic effects from fibrous matter and other adverse health effects by firefighters and rescue personnel responding to post crash aircraft fires. These range from skin and eye irritation to severe respiratory problems.
For instance, firefighters, rescue crew and other emergency personnel and even bystanders express concerns about long-term effects from these exposures.
Potential health risks are normally associated with fires involving fiber-reinforced polymer composites include the fibrous dust and airborne particles released during burning that can be inhaled and deposited in the deep lung region and the sharp fiber fragments that penetrate the skin.
Reports concerning the nature and severity of short and long term adverse effects are now rife. Records of varying degrees of adverse health effects, ranging from eye and skin irritation to severe respiratory problems are not uncommon.
An aviation expert told VF that the primary fire hazard of interior and secondary composites used in aircraft cabin and fuselage components are the heat release rate and the toxicity of the gaseous combustion products from the burning polymer matrix.
Aircraft cabin occupants are exposed to this hazard even during an impact-survivable accident. No doubt, the incineration of external structural aircraft components results in hazardous conditions for fire, rescue personnel and investigation and recovery teams in the immediate post crash situation.
Things such as release of a mixture of gaseous, particulate, and fibrous combustion products of unknown composition poses unique protection problems due to lack of proper understanding of the hazards related to composite materials.
The short and long term health effects from combustion of organic materials become airborne during the burning of structural applications in fibre-reinforced polymer composites in commercial transport aircraft structures is another hazard on which information is required.
In the wake of the Dana airline disaster, adoption of conservative protection measures in absence of detailed knowledge of the health effects of carbon fibers released in aircraft fires is desperately desired.
Culled from The Vanguard Newspapers.
xoxo
Simply Cheska...
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