EIA offering media up-close-and-personal showcase of Mobile Aircraft Fire Trainer

EIA offering media up-close-and-personal showcase of
Mobile Aircraft Fire Trainer
Tour is part of Fire Prevention Week (October 4-10)

FIRE PREVENTION WEEK PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Location: Meet at the main Information Booth on the Arrivals level
Time: Meet at 9:00 am sharp

(October 1, 2009) Edmonton, Alta.—Edmonton International Airport’s (EIA) emergency response services team has managed to extinguish the fire on the jet airliner’s engine, but flames and intense heat still engulf the fuselage. Timing is critical, only seconds remain. These are the high pressure scenarios EIA’s emergency response services team must be prepared for.

EIA’s emergency response services team has been training with the intensely realistic Mobile Aircraft Fire Trainer (MAFT). The fully portable unit was put through its paces during EIA’s full-scale emergency response exercise in September. The exercise was the largest of its kind ever conducted at the airport and the MAFT more than lived up to expectations.

“The MAFT unit is an invaluable training tool for airport emergency preparedness,” says Burl Hamm, EIA’s manager of emergency response services and emergency planning. “It’s one piece of our larger program to ensure we meet regulatory requirements and federal compliance.”

The MAFT can be used for internal and external training opportunities, both onsite at EIA and mobile at other airport partners. Unlike fixed facilities, the MAFT can be configured to locations that are applicable to the airport environment: aircraft aprons, taxiways or docked at bridgeheads.

From a computerized control centre, spill fires and engine fires can be triggered on the outside of the MAFT unit in configurations both large and small. Inside the fuselage, a variety of effects can be triggered, including flames, smoke and noises ranging from the sound of a fire to passengers. The MAFT’s realism provides a training edge should EIA’s emergency response services team ever be faced with a real emergency situation. By burning propane, the MAFT is also a more environmentally friendly training tool.

EIA is offering media an up-close-and-personal look at the MAFT in action. For an advance look, visit www.eia911.com and www.flickr.com/flyeia.

Notes for media:

• Please RSVP
• Please bring comfortable footwear and weather-appropriate clothing
• Media is asked to park in the main Parkade. Parking permits and visitor passes will be issued at the Information Booth
• Media will be shuttled to and from the exercise site

Media Contact:

Donna Call,
Communications
t: 780 890 8454
c: 780 717 5117
e: dcall@flyeia.com