Thread: Bombs away!
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Old 04-21-2017, 03:17 PM
  #29  
decrabbitz
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Joined APC: Sep 2010
Position: MD-11 F/O
Posts: 111
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Originally Posted by Adlerdriver View Post
I claim no expertise in fire fighting game plans. Only what I've thought of (after the occasional post nightmare shakes) or crew discussions as you mentioned.

I do make a note of LI battery locations during pre flight. So, I would at least know if they were on board or not. Depending on which system was alerting me, I may be able to identify a specific position(s) involved with the fire and have some idea of whether LI batteries were involved or not. Not much can be done about the possibility of undeclared DG, but we have to start somewhere.

In the absence of known LI batteries, I think I would be more inclined to roll the dice and let the low O2 suppression option on the main deck and/or lower cargo class-E compartments suppression agent get me to a suitable field. I'd caveat that with the fact that I'm damn sure gonna go back and do my best to assess he situation regardless of what the book says. I think the "book" might be saying going back to fight the fire isn't the best options. Going back to look? That seems kind of critical to me. Especially if I need to determine if what I've done so far (main deck suppression/FSS) appears to be working. I've got the rest of my life to figure out the nature of the fire and if it warrants a water or off-field landing. That's a pretty big decision to make blindly when additional info might be fairly easy to obtain.

All good points. But if you are going to roll the dice/bet your life on the low O2 suppression route, wouldn't it be better to climb as high as you can go (MAX ALT) rather than FL250? Sure, there are possible physio problems unpressurized at the higher altitude, but versus burning up....

My question is what is the harm in an immediate descent to 1000 agl, and investigate/fight fire there? Fuel shouldn't be an issue because you are going to probably know your fate in less than 30 minutes. If it's not good, you're ready to ditch; if it is good, then you can climb again and you've only spent 30 minutes down low. The only harm I see is the O2 levels at 1000' vs fl250- not a fire expert, so I don't know the effect. But the RFO with a halon bottle is probably better (again, against the book) than thinner O2.

I can't remember what kind of vvi you get in a 777 during high speed descent but would guess around 5000'/min. So a ditching decision made at Fl250 is at least 5 mins away, or 25% of your remaining lifetime. If the decision to ditch starts later in the 20 minute lifetime, then its 100% of your remaining lifetime

I don't have the answer, I just noticed the discrepancy from the cbt training and have been asking others what they think...
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