KOCHI: “Most important thing about the rescue and fire-fighting of an aircraft is the response time.
The result depends on how quick the response time is. We get hardly two minutes to react,” pointed out P S Ajith Kumar, Head of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (ARFF) at Bangalore International Airport.
He was elaborating on ‘Building a new airport rescue and fire-fighting service,’ a paper he recently presented at the International Airport Rescue and Fire Conference in USA. The two-day conference held at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA, is one of the most prestigious international conferences on airport security. Ajith Kumar said that the successful build-up of a new airport rescue and fire-fighting service depends on working out a time-line plan. The level of protection to be provided to a new airport is based on the longest aeroplane to be used in that particular airport. The role, size, organisation and equipment for the required level of protection depends on these factors, he said.
“The paper focused on some important aspects regarding fire security of airports. Infrastructure, equipment, manpower, training, alarm and operating procedure, mutual aid plans, hands-on equipment training, topography, aircraft familiarisation, trial runs and inspection and accreditation by authorities were discussed in detail.
The paper has been selected as the best technical paper in the conference,” he added.
Ajith Kumar had earlier worked as the senior manager (fire) at Nedumbassery International Airport for seven years. Later, he moved to Bangalore Airport as commander ARFF. He was responsible for setting up the airport fire service at the new airport.