Interesting thought, from the latest Aviation Week...n two incidents since 1998 -- involving a Delta
MD-88 and an AirTran DC-9 -- pilots and flight
attendants debated whether to use Halon fire
extinguishers on areas where smoke was coming
from because, unsure of each fire's seriousness,
they feared the chemical would do more harm
than good. In a third, in 2000, an above-ceiling fire
was rapidly blistering ceiling panels in an
American MD-82's main cabin. The fire was put
out only after a passenger pulled a knife from his
carry-on bag and cut a hole in the panels, giving
an extinguisher-toting flight attendant a clear shot
at the flames. Each incident ended with safe
emergency landings and evacuations, with only a
few minor injuries reported....Current security regulations banning knives and
other sharp instruments mean the odds of finding
a tool to cut one's way to an in-flight fire are not
good.
MD-88 and an AirTran DC-9 -- pilots and flight
attendants debated whether to use Halon fire
extinguishers on areas where smoke was coming
from because, unsure of each fire's seriousness,
they feared the chemical would do more harm
than good. In a third, in 2000, an above-ceiling fire
was rapidly blistering ceiling panels in an
American MD-82's main cabin. The fire was put
out only after a passenger pulled a knife from his
carry-on bag and cut a hole in the panels, giving
an extinguisher-toting flight attendant a clear shot
at the flames. Each incident ended with safe
emergency landings and evacuations, with only a
few minor injuries reported....Current security regulations banning knives and
other sharp instruments mean the odds of finding
a tool to cut one's way to an in-flight fire are not
good.