Before ignition and combustion can take place, three things are needed: heat, oxygen, and fuel (Troitzsch, 2016). The most common cause of inflight fires is overheated equipment, electrical failures, or improper cargo. These fires are usually insidious since the majority of the aviation aircraft are constructed of aluminum; the heating of this aluminum, which is followed by an impact, leads to a broom straw (Troitzsch, 2016). The level of this broom straw depends on the force of impact and structural exposure to heat. This broom straw is considered an indication of an in-flight fire. One could think that carbon dioxide is the best option to put out cabin fires. Halon is the best for extinguishing these fires since it does not decrease the cockpit's oxygen levels. Halon is also non-corrosive and hence cannot "cold-shock," leading to other complications such as electric fires (Troitzsch, 2016). When a plane crashes, it is usually at a very high speed; the energy involved is hence high. The fuel of an airplane is also very light compared to that of an automobile, making it easier to vaporize (Troitzsch, 2016). These fuel vapors are very flammable. To ignite these vapors, it only takes an electrical spark. Sometimes the ambient temperatures are very high and can cause the vapors to ignite by making them boil off into a vapor. Sometimes, jet fuel can mix with air when one of the wings is breached by mechanical failure due to a missile or well-bomb. To know if a fire was a component of an accident error chain, investigators should arrive at the scene, evaluate it, document, process the evidence and then complete the investigation (Troitzsch, 2016). It’s essential to examine the physical attributes of a fire scene and use the information to identify and collect physical evidence from the accident scene. This includes flame and smoke conditions, conditions surrounding the scene, such as the presence of debris, among others.
References
Troitzsch, J. H. (2016). Fires, statistics, ignition sources, and passive fire protection measures. Journal of fire sciences , 34 (3), 171-198.
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