User Preference survey for Agents used in Hand Held Extinguishers on board aircraft Harry Webster FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Richard Mazzone The Boeing Company Giles Weyland Airbus France S.A.S. November 5, 2003

Overview This survey requests very important information from the user community on extinguishing agent properties that should be considered for use in hand held extinguishers on board aircraft in the flight deck, cabin, crew rests and accessible cargo compartments.

Objective Assemble information on specific candidate extinguishing agents Contact users of hand held extinguishers in the aircraft industry to determine preferred agent attributes Prepare a report summarizing the industries responses

Survey Contents Respondents were asked to rank the following extinguisher attributes in order of (1) most important to (11) least important: Toxicity, Ergonomics, Ozone Depletion Potential, Global Warming Potential, Weight, Size and Interchangeability, Cleanup, Material Compatibility, Visual Obscuration, Maintenance and Cost

Survey Results 78 Response from US domestic operators 6 Response from Canadian operators 28 Responses from European operators

Statistical Analysis Raw data was tabulated returning the number of #1, #2….#11 priorities for each attribute. A weighted value was assigned for each attribute as follows: –Attribute Weight = sum of all products: (priority times the number of occurrences)

Statistical Analysis Average occurrence for each attribute was calculated as follow: –Average occurrence = weight divided by the number of responses The attributes were then arranged from highest priority to lowest

MPS ISSUES Toxicity in small compartments –Crew rests –Cockpits –GA aircraft / helicopters Ability of extinguisher to discharge fully in near horizontal orientation