Airport Crash Tender
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An airport crash tender is a specially featured fire engine designed for use at aerodromes and airports in aircraft accidents.
The features include a relatively good acceleration, ability to move on rough terrains outside the runway and airport area, large water capacity, foam tank, a high-capacity pump, and water/foam cannons with a good throw distance. These features give the airport crash tenders a capability to reach an airplane rapidly, and rapidly put out large fires with jet fuel involved. Some tenders have an elevated extended extinguishing arm giving a possiblity to raise a water/foam cannon into the height of approx. 10 - 20 meters. Some arms have reinforced nozzles that can puncture through superficial structures of an aeroplane to fight a fire inside the fuselage.
ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) has given standards and recommended practices on rescue fire fighting categories of civil aerodromes. National aviation authorities may have given even further requirements on aerodrome rescue and fire services.
The rescue fire services are based on a critical aircraft based on a statistical analysis of movements (take-offs and landings) on the airport. The aerodrome category is based on the size of the biggest aircraft taking a movement on the aerodrome. In addition, the number of movements of the critical aircraft is calculated, and the category can be decreased by one if the number of movements is lower than the standard describes. There are also minimum category levels based on e.g. the number of seats in the critical aircraft.
Depending on the airport category, the standards determine the minimum number of rescue fire-fighting vehicles. In addition, requirements are given on the water and foam capacities, discharge rates for foam solutions, and minimum dry chemical powder (complementary agent) amounts, reserve stocks of fire fighting agents, ability to operate on rough terrain, and acceleration of the air crash tenders. The end of each runway has to be achieved in a response time of two minutes, and any part of the movement area has to be achieved in a response time not exceeding three minutes.
[edit] See also
- Fire apparatus
- Fireboat
- Fire Chief's Vehicle
- Firefighter
- List of historic fires
- Glossary of firefighting terms
- Heavy rescue vehicle
- Water tender
- Water salute
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting
[edit] Gallery of Airport Crash Tenders
 Crashtender Royal Netherlands Air Force |
 Jyväskylä airport, Finland |
 Schuimbluswagen, Netherlands military fire brigade |
 Rosenbauer Panther 8x8, Altenburg-Nobitz Airport |
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