Fire Fighting Op's
In accordance with CAP 168 (Licensing of Aerodromes), Birmingham Airport
Fire Service (AFS) was operating to Category 8 on 4 January 2002. This
category covers aircraft with an overall length of less than 61 metres
and with a maximum fuselage width of 7 metres.
At the time of the accident, a Fire Control officer (FCO) was manning
the Operations Room. Eleven fully qualified firefighters were on duty,
to man five fire vehicles. These vehicles were designated 'Fireguard',
a Ford Ranger Command Vehicle, and 'Fire 3', 'Fire 4', 'Fire 5' and
'Fire 8'. Operations had been declared as 'Normal', with Runway 15 in
use.
The FCO was at her normal duty position with a clear view of Runway
15. She was watching N90AG as it took-off. Shortly after the aircraft
got airborne, the FCO saw the aircraft roll to the left and was aware
that the aircraft was going to crash. She immediately activated the
crash alarm, at 1207 hrs, and proceeded with her emergency actions.
The fire fighters reacted promptly and all fire vehicles headed for
the scene of the accident. As they did so, ATC informed the Fire Officer
(Incident Commander) in 'Fireguard' that there were five occupants on
board the aircraft. The fire vehicles arrived at the main body of the
wreckage within one minute of the crash alarm and commenced fire fighting.
Within six minutes, the main fire had been extinguished. Thereafter,
the fire fighters continued to extinguish the smaller fires and to look
for any survivors. Two bodies were located within ten minutes of the
crash alarm and a further two bodies were located within a further three
minutes. The AFS continued to try and locate the fifth occupant of the
aircraft while also monitoring the crash scene. After extensive efforts,
including the use of a thermal imaging camera, the fifth body was located
in the wreckage at 1310 hrs.
The AFS was reinforced by the West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS), which
arrived at the Airport at 1219 hrs and was at the scene of the accident
by 1232 hrs.
In total, the AFS used 30,000 litres of water, 1,160 litres of foam
concentrate and small amounts of BCF and Dry Powder. The WMFS used 400
litres of water.
A Full report was published on the 20th August 2004.
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