We have an airline opening a training facility in our jurisdiction. The building is fully sprinklered and has a fire alarm.
They wish to install a static airplane fuselage for training airplane cabin personnel. This would be a functioning fuselage with standard airplane doors with ramps. Has anyone had an experience with this? This is a fully sprinklered building so our thinking is the fuselage needs sprinkler coverage inside. Is this correct? This building has a fire alarm system so our thinking is the fuselage needs notification devices. Is this correct? The fuselage doors do not meet the code requirement for egress doors (locks, swing, etc), how is this addressed? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe
10 Comments
Pete H
6/14/2024 07:45:03 am
This standard fuselage they want to build.... will it have wheels and be mobile?
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Brett
6/14/2024 08:08:39 am
No wheels, it is mounted on an elevated base which is fixed in place. It doesn't move like a cockpit simulator.
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Glenn Berger
6/14/2024 08:31:37 am
Interesting question - I have been involved with facilities housing flight simulators and it has been accepted that there will be no installed fire systems inside the simulator equipment. The same has been true for all types of training facilities that I have ever worked on.
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Ricardo Gonzales Jr
6/14/2024 08:39:51 am
You need to look at the purpose. the Doors are part of the training. How to close and open, secure the internal items. etc. The initial thought is great, but quickly discounts the fuselage's purpose and it is for training for the actual thing. You don't want to reduce it to a facsimile and then have those same people expecting the same for the real thing. No aircraft has sprinklers in them. May seem obvious, but just people watch and it'll become apparent what people expect when they see or train with it, they expect it and then Lawyers get involved. (the FAA is nasty to deal with in an incident)
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Jack G
6/14/2024 10:50:09 am
A couple thoughts—
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Dan Wilder
6/14/2024 11:27:47 am
The last training center we did, the simulators had overall room protection with sprinklers extending up from the floor below (when the simulator returned to the "normal" position or a fire alarm event returned it to that position, this was to cover a potential hydraulic fluid pool fire below) but nothing inside the simulator. Any alarm FA signal would cancel the simulation, engage lighting, return the unit to the base position, and unlock all exits, similar to a movie theater.
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Chad
6/14/2024 02:10:23 pm
As an AHJ I would take a common sense approach and work with the designers. The others are right, they need to be able to train with it. And I am sure this isnt the first time its done, so reach out to the other locations for input.
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Zackery geddies
6/14/2024 02:56:22 pm
Perhaps treat it like an aircraft hangar. Look at Type II aircraft hangars in NFPA 409. It has provisions for unfueld aircraft too.
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Jerry Graupman
6/19/2024 10:14:24 am
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a static display of a 727 that visitors can explore. Sprinklers were added inside the fuselage just as if it were a room like any other. Just because it's in the shape of an airplane doesn't change the rules - if it's an occupied space it needs to have sprinklers.
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Greg Collier
6/19/2024 11:18:30 am
We did a similar project at the Atlantic City International Airport. It is actually in the firehouse and mounted on a menazine at the training area and sprinklered. It is static, so no movement.
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