Why dont they put some sort of fire proection system on airliners?

Question

you know like perhaps a sprinkler system that does fowm instad of water.
I watched this seconds from disater thing, and it seems like if you have a fire on the aircraft you are totally F**ked!
you may as well kiss your sorry *** goodbye.

So why not automatic foam sprinklers?

Also, can u believe that smoking used to be allowed on planes??? thats Crazy!

No it was the fire that caused the crash of swiss air (forgot flight number) and also air canada flight.

The fire burned through all the wiring so they all nav instruments were gone and finally fire engulfed cockpit.
Then plane crashed.

Answer 1

you cant possibly do that dude! it will make the plane to heavy why dont u try doing it..dont use vulgar language

Answer 2

Foam is water -based and would do more damage than the fire itself to the plane's electronics and electrical systems, and would certainly cause the plane to crash by disabling or destroying critical flight control systems.

Other fire fighting systems that aren't water based, like your average fire extinguisher, are available on aircraft, assuming the fire is accessable so they can fight it. It is the rare case that you mention where the fire is inaccessable and an extinguisher couldn't be used. The most common fire danger in commercial aircraft is in the engine, where a fire is used to burn fuel to provide thrust. There are automatic fire suppression systems in the engines.

Unfortunately, no one can be prepared for every eventuality. An airplane is a balancing act between needs and wants (such as: the plane needs a lot of fuel capacity to fly long range, but the owners want to carry a lot of passengers and cargo to generate revenue to pay for the airplane and the fuel and the maintenance and the landing fees and...) so these factors have to be balanced. The materials in aircraft are designed to be flame retardant and must pass stringent burn testing before being approved by the FAA, and I mean every little piece that might burn must pass these tests. Electrical safety devices like circuit breakers are there to prevent electrical overloads that might cause electrical fires.

Safety in aviation is our paramount concern, but it is simply impossible to cover everything the MIGHT happen. Instead we focus on what HAS happened and how to prevent it, and what is MOST LIKELY to happen and try to make sure it doesn't. You are much more likely to suffer a house or car fire than one on an airplane. Airplane fires simply get more publicity. I see car fires on the side of the freeway here in California every month (but I never see these on the news), but the last aircraft fire I remember was Valuejet in 1996. That fire, even with an automatic fire supression system would never have been put out, because the cause of the fire was also what was feeding it the oxygen to keep burning.

Answer 3

Most commercial aircraft DO have fire suppression devices.
They have a system to douse the engine at the same time they shut off fuel to the engine.
After ValueJet (now Airtran) lawn darted into a Florida swamp because of a cargo compartment fire, commercial aircraft were ordered by the FAA to retro fit their planes with a cargo hold fire suppression system.

Answer 4

To create a sprinkler system would aso require the airliner to carry large tanks of water, wich would be unpractical. Most new planes are made with fire proof or fire resistant coatings to prevent any engine fire or fuel line fire from spreading into the cabin. Also, most in-cabin fires can be put out with the fire-extinguishers that are in most planes.

Answer 5

Fire control systems do exist on jetliners. They are positioned where most fires begin-within the engine nacelles. If an on-board fire can't be quickly extinguished near its source, chances are it'll spread uncontrollably. And its simple economics that suggest the unfeasabiliy of carrying enough 'foam' to extinguish the indispensible accelerant-fuel, measured in thousands of pounds.

Answer 6

The cargo bins do have fire suppression systems as well as the engines. The fire is not the problem. It's what started the fire that is making you fall from the sky.

Answer 7

They do have protection systems on aircraft, they are called portable fire extinguishers to be utilized by the crew. Any "water or foam" system would be too heavy for an airliner.

Answer 8

almost never a fire that causes crash....engines have a system but the weight makes it not sutiable for inside aircraft.