ABERDEEN AIRPORT FIRE SERVICE

CAT 7

Stations

 <1998                        To east of main runway opposite Main Terminal                                                        Photos

Senior Airport Fire Officer

Appliances

Appliance Photos.

2004         The Domestic appliance is the Land Rover Discovery manned by 2. Firefighters. SV53AUH was the Hose Layer, in 2013 it was the Equipment Carrier.

Cobra
Carmichael Cobra Mark 2 major foam tender is in service at BAA's Scottish airports. The Mark 1 is similar but smaller than the Mark 2 and is 500kg heavier.
The Cobra is 6 x 6 all wheel drive, with a rear mounted Detroit diesel, turbo charged, direct injection water cooled engine. The pump is a Godiva GVB 10,000 single stage centrifugal pump capable of producing 10,0001/min at l6 bar pressure.
The monitor is a Carmichael power assisted Cl0,000 single barrel roof mounted with defuser.
Landrover Discovery
The command and control vehicles are key the success of a major incident, the operation watch officer is able to communicate with his fire appliances, air traffic control, the AFS watch room, and the pilot. The officer in charge can position remotely from the major fire fighting appliances and attain an overall view of an incident.
The Landrover Discovery has a four wheel drive petrol engine. The front passenger seat has been removed to house the communication console. These vehicles also carry command and control planning boards as well as personal protection and rescue equipment.
MAN
The dual role hose layer and equipment carrier in operation at Aberdeen Airport is facilitated by demountable units system which are completely interchangeable.
The hose deployment/retrieval unit contains one light portable pump, 500m of 125mm high volume hose in l0m lengths. The integrated fetch hose retrieval unit is fitted to the near side of the unit.
The equipment carrier unit is non water carrying but does contain one trolley unit of 50kg BCF and one trolley unit 50kg Monnex accessed by rear mounted media tail lift.
Rosenbauer Panther
The fire fighting media on the Panther consists of 11,500litres of water, 1,470 litres of foam, 200 litres of training foam (due to cost of foam and damage to the environment of real foam), 222 Kg of Dry Powder for the hose reel. Equipment carried includes a 5.5 metre extra wide ladder on the roof and a triple extension ladder in the through the body near side ladder locker locker, 7 lengths of 70mm hose, 6 lengths of 45mm hose (Dutch rolled), Attack and Defence branches and a foam branch. There is a monitor on the roof and a bumper turret monitor both controlled by joysticks in the cab. In the event of control failure there is a hatch on the off side which can be opened to give access to the roof monitor. There are seats for a crew of three although it is normally crewed by two. The rear lockers on each side will be used to hold the equipment currently carried on the Equipment Carrier, which will go off the run when the second Panther arrives.

Establishment 2013

Staff operate a four watch system with 1SM, 1 WM, 2 CC, 8 Ffs per watch. The Operational Support Station Manager is the Head of the Airport Fire Service.
If the Hose Layer is of the run the Spare 4x4 tows the Hose Trailer and it is also the spare for the C&C Unit..

Notes

1998                        BAA Airport Fire Service
2012                        Aberdeen International Airport Fire and Rescue Service (Heathrow Airport Holdings)
17/12/2019             Falck Fire Service UK

17/12/2019 Falck Fire Services UK are now providing Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Service to Glasgow and Aberdeen International airports.

Aberdeen Airport maintains operational cover for Category 7 operations throughout the promulgated opening hours of the airfield. Serving the oil capital of Europe, the airport is the busiest commercial heliport in the world. The 97,000 aircraft movements and 2.5m passengers per annum are serviced by five terminals (two fixed wing, three rotary wing) and four runways.
The complexity of the operation, demands that fire service personnel are trained and assessed as competent for all tasks they are expected to perform in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The operational team consists of 43 firefighters/leading firefighters and eight officers. In addition to the airfield cover provided, and to ensure continuity of operations, a fire service response to the terminals and associated airfield buildings is provided by an additional two personnel over and above the Civil Aviation Authority agreed manning levels.
Commitment to safety
In line with the company’s commitment to safety, appliances and equipment provided, exceeds that required by relevant standards.
Aberdeen Airport fire station is situated directly across from the main terminal on the east side of the airfield.
The appliance bays house the following: one command and control vehicle; one fire safety team vehicle; two mark 1 Cobra major foam tenders; one mark 2 Cobra major foam tender; one MAN equipment carrier; and one MAN hose layer (If required, hose layer is manned by the fire safety team).
Operational crew consists of two officers and 10 firefighters including a watch room attendant with a riding position on a spare major foam tender.
Fire training ground
Aberdeen Airport fire station fire training ground is situated on the north west of the airfield and consists of a fixed wing trainer (737) rig and a helicopter (Sikorsky 61) rig. Both training rigs have multi fire scenarios externally, however the Sikorsky 61 rig can also be utilised for a simulated internal cockpit fire. Both rigs are supplied by pressure fed liquid propane gas (L.PG) but for that added realism, kerosene can also be selected.
Third party training also takes place in a specially designed training rig built to simulate scenarios found on offshore installations. Offshore safety and survival company Nutec have a partnership with Aberdeen Airport Fire Service in the training and retraining of offshore workers. The purpose built training facility (which looks like a mini oil rig complete with helicopter) is situated on the fire ground and can boast many different scenarios relevant to the offshore industry.
(Fire Times March 2005. BAA Airports supplement.)

BAA Aberdeen 

Aberdeen Airport Fire Service  

Introduction
Aberdeen Airport is owned and operated by Aberdeen Airport Limited, part of BAA plc, the world’s leading international airport group which also owns Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in the South of England and Glasgow, Edinburgh and Prestwick in Scotland 

Aberdeen Aerodrome Licence
Aberdeen is licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority for use by aircraft engaged in the public transport of passengers. Aberdeen Airport’s Operations Department is custodian of the aerodrome licence and is responsible for ensuring the high standards and conditions required by the licence are complied with at all times. The Airport Fire Service is a division of the Operations Department
The minimum safety standards for essential fire cover are detailed in the aerodrome licence and relate to the length and width of the largest aircraft regularly using the airport These standards are expressed in terms of nine categories of which Aberdeen Airport is Category 7, this also relates to the level of extinguishing media which must be readily available
A minimum of 12,100 litres of water together with 730 litres of foam concentrate must he available. The extinguishing media must be able to he pumped at minimum rate of 5,300 litres per minute
Complementary extinguishing media must also he carried and the minimum quantities required are 225 kg dry powder and Halocarbons (each) and 450 kg CO2. 

Primary Objective
In the event of an emergency the safety of passengers on the ground or in the air approaching the airport depends on the men and appliances of the Airport Fire Service.
The primary objective of the Airport Fire Service is to save lives in the event of an aircraft accident. Fire appliances have to be able to reach either end of the runway within two minutes of a call being received and to create conditions in which survival is possible. The service is also required to respond to any aircraft incident within two miles of the airport’s perimeter.
Any fire must be brought quickly under control to allow the evacuation of the aircraft by the occupants 

Vital Services
The role of the Airport Fire Service is far more extensive than their primary objective of dealing with aircraft incidents. The service responds to a wide variety of “domestic” calls not involving aircraft. They respond to all fire alarm calls in the airport terminal and associated buildings; ambulance calls where they give life saving First Aid until the local authority ambulance arrives; road traffic accidents on the airport and surrounding roads and are called to deal with hazardous chemical spillages or damaged radioactive consignments.
All appliances carry First Aid, resuscitation and radiation monitoring equipment as well as special protective suits for dealing with chemical spillages. 

Firemen
The Senior Airport Fire Officer has overall responsibility for the fire service and is supported by his Watch Officers.
Manning of the fire station is achieved by three watches each comprising of at least eight firemen and two officers, a Station Officer and a Sub Officer. Each watch, named Red, White and Blue lasts for 12 hours during the day and 4¾ hours in the evening until the airport closes.
As well as attending emergency calls and training courses, during their working day, the firemen are responsible for cleaning and servicing the fire station and equipment. The firemen on each watch attend special courses to allow them to service and test the highly sophisticated equipment used 

Other Training
All firemen are trained for at least one hour a day, and training includes procedures laid down to give maximum protection when dealing with hazardous chemical spillages or radiation contamination.
A continuous training programme is carried out for airport staff for fire precautions; and also on behalf of a number of airlines and helicopter companies, to train flight crew and cabin staff on the action to be taken in case of fire and the use of oxygen and compressed air breathing apparatus carried on aircraft.
Aberdeen’s training facilities are used by the local authority fire service where combined training is undertaken and the firemen of the separate services work and train together to ultimately achieve the same goal of saving life in the event of an aircraft accident at Aberdeen Airport 

Aberdeen Airport Limited, Aberdeen Airport, Dyce, Aberdeen Tel: (0224) 722331
(The phone number dates this leaflet as Pre April 1995.)

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