UPS will install full-face oxygen masks with integrated smoke goggles for pilots on all itsplanes in its latest security enhancement following last year’s fatal B747-400 crash.
The company announced yesterday it would retrofit the cockpits of its air fleet withquick-donning, full-face oxygen masks with integrated smoke goggles. Installation of the enhancedpilot safety equipment came at the recommendation of the Joint UPS-Independent Pilots Association(IPA) Safety Task Force, it said.
Installation on its Boeing 747-400, MD-11, B-767 and B-757 fleets is expected to take place overthe next 24 months, beginning with the MD-11 and 747 fleets. The UPS Airbus A-300 fleet is alreadyequipped with integrated masks.
“Safety is an absolute priority for our employees, our customers’ shipments and our aircraft,”said UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols. “That is why we continue to adopt solutions like thesefacemasks to further augment the safe operation of our airline.”
The new, one-piece facemasks can be put on with one hand in just three seconds, five timesfaster than the separate oxygen mask and smoke goggle units currently on most aircraft. The newmasks meet performance standards for protective breathing equipment established by the FederalAviation Administration and offer a better fit for crewmembers who wear eyeglasses, UPS pointedout.
The full-face equipment is manufactured by Zodiac Aerospace, a French conglomerate whose Erosoxygen equipment is used by many carriers, including UPS.
“These facemasks will be an important inclusion in our cockpit safety environment,” said IPA andSafety Task Force member Capt. Bob Brown. “Between the facemasks and the recent addition of theEmergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS), the union and the company are very much in sync on flightsafety.”
The two measures follow the crash of a UPS B747-400 freighter near Dubai on September 3, 2010,in which two pilots were killed. Smoke had filled the cockpit shortly before the crash, and pilotswere apparently unable to see the flight instruments. The aircraft had been carrying a largequantity of lithium batteries. Crash investigations looked closely at whether these had over-heatedand caused a fire in the cargo compartment that resulted in thick smoke entering the cockpit.
Since last fall, the UPS-IPA Joint Safety Task Force has been researching strategies andtechnologies for improving flight safety. Focused primarily on in-flight fire mitigation, the grouphas worked extensively with the FAA, aircraft manufacturers, safety vendors and other industryexperts. Research efforts point to tiered solutions for detecting, managing and suppressingin-flight fires on the flight deck, in cargo compartments, in unit load devices and even withinboxes.
The facemasks are the second task force recommendation to be adopted. In April, UPS announcedthat it would become the first international carrier to equip its air fleet with EVAS, anin-cockpit transparent inflatable vision device designed to allow pilots to see in dense smokesituations.
UPS said after the April announcement that the safety task force was exploring about 40 safetyenhancements for its aircraft. These included full-face oxygen masks; comprehensive fire-mitigationand suppression systems; checklist procedures for smoke and fire; and the carriage of lithiumbatteries and other fire/smoke hazards.
