Prediction of Fire Development in Aircraft

IN the 20 years from 1964 to 1984 at least 300 cases of in‐flight fire in aircraft were reported and of these some 52 had fatal consequences. To these must be added the statistics of post‐crash fires, incidents in which the occupants survive the trauma of impact but are then subjected to a fire hazard, generally initiated outside the cabin, and usually due to a fuel spill. The fire then gains access to the cabin via breaks due to impact damage. If one recognises the large amount of fuel which may be carried by the modern aircraft (21,400 litres for the B‐747) and the largely organic composition of the cabin furnishings (4200 kg of largely synthetic material for the B‐747) the enormity of the problem of designing to mitigate such risks may be realised.