Address FA & FP for Fixed Airplane Inside Facility?

6/14/2024

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.

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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?

Because your instinct is correct, if this fuselage is a fixed item, and it does not move, yeah, it'll need protection.

As for the egress doors, best shot in the dark is they basically have to agree that except for direct training programs, the doors of the fuselage are to be kept open at all times.

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.

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.

I do not believe that any air and space museums have fire systems installed in any of their displays. The same is true for museums with historical trains that are now fixed in placed and you can walk in and around the exhibits.

This would be a good discussion point with the various AHJs.

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)

If it's changed, then the training quickly becomes useless. Especially for aviation. For simulators, we don't put sprinklers in them, but have sprinklers above and deluge below. There's a lot externally that is important for training not just for the pilots but the rest of the crew as well.

Pilots may have 1500+ hours of flight time, but that equivalent time is also spent inspecting the aircraft (which has no sprinklers) for flight worthiness before flight.

Jack G

6/14/2024 10:50:09 am

A couple thoughts—
Is the fixed simulator wider than 4 feet with a “ shadowed space “ below it?
Is the cockpit loaded with computer equipment?
Does the simulator move at all ( banks etc requiring motors and hydraulic fluid?)
I ve had to protect the simulators including FAA run way landing simulators inside of long warehouses.
Usually bottled fm200 system for the computer equipment.
Protection under the simulator ( no hydraulic equipment)
Fixed deluge protection with nozzles pointing at the hydraulics. ( hydraulic fluid present)
An HSSD system in the plane itself ( highly sensitive smoke detection)
It usually an FAA requirement or AHJ.
These things cost millions of dollars.

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.

The static (non-moving) training locations (cockpit, fuselage more often - cargo & wheel compartments much less) have gone both ways with protection within (typically concealers with an adjacent warning sticker in areas with personnel and "passengers") down the middle. While these were obstructed by the luggage overhead storage bins, it was intent for egress. Nothing below the training unit itself. In all of these instances, there were very clear instructions (SOP & Signage) that no storage was to occur beneath or in the area, and this was conveyed on the plan submittal (Fire and Arch). It's really dependent on the preapprovals and discussions from all the parties prior to construction.

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.

If it is a real plane inside and its not ever going used for storage or another use: the interior of plane must be fire resistant so the risk of a fire developing and overwhelming the sprinklers above is reduced.

Perhaps there are other trade offs such as Vesda above the "plane" for early detection if you cannot pipe into it

FA notification, as along as you meet audibility and can see strobes through the windows, IMO, it meets the intent.

Like with a flight simulator I would not expect notification inside it, or suppression. Above, below yes.

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.

Depending on building square footage and you local building code you may not need fire suppression. (NFPA 409 sends you back to your local Building Code if it is a type III hangar). Fire Suppression comes into play when you classify the occupancy and square footatage.

Also think about repair garages that have hydraulic lifts. So there again the square footage and occupancy will drive fire protection requirements.Good luck.

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.

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.

Address FA & FP for Fixed Airplane Inside Facility?

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