An Aircraft Fire-fighting Research Laboratory (AFRL) is now operating at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The unit is based on Flame Aviation’s V9000 Commander Cabin Fire + Smoke Trainer. The V9000 Commander is in use with many airlines all over the world for training their flight- and cabin crew for inflight fires.

In the fire lab, controlled fires can be initiated in the oven, the overhead compartment or in the lavatory waste bin. Additionally, lithium-ion battery fires can be simulated in a laptop and in a smartphone on the seat. Smoke, cabin (panic) sound, burning smell and mood light effects help enhance the fire training experience. Two automatic fire extinguisher refilling systems refill the training fire extinguishers with a mixture of water and compressed air, to realistically simulate halon or hafex fire extinguishers.

“Flame Aviation is proud to have installed our latest model at the FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. We hope that many airlines can use the equipment and that they gain new insights on how to further improve their cabin-fire training,” Robin Pijnaker said, CEO of Flame Aviation.