Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AAS)
Rotterdam – The Hague Airport (RTHA)
Lelystad Airport (LLA)
Project executed by Jan Roelof Kooreman
The fire brigades of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AAS), Rotterdam – The Hague Airport (RTHA), and Lelystad Airport (LLA) provide rescue and fire-fighting services at and around the airport premises. In addition to regular firefighting tasks in the buildings and traffic at the airports, there is also aircraft incident response. For this purpose, a specific vehicle has been developed, namely the ‘Crash Tender.’ To renew and expand the existing fleet, 18 of these crash tenders were internationally tendered.
It is the responsibility of the fire brigade to extinguish an aircraft fire with these crash tenders within five minutes. This means that the crew has 45 seconds to respond, 135 seconds to reach the site, and 120 seconds to extinguish the fire.
Below are the specifications of the AAS crash tender:
- Two 700 Hp Volvo Penta engines
- Over 13,000 liters of water
- 1,600 liters of foam
- 250 kg of powder
- Weight: over 48,000 kg
- Acceleration from 0 to 80 km/h in 22.3 seconds
- Acceleration from 0 to 120 km/h in 38.6 seconds
- Maximum speed of 155 km/h
The crash tenders deployed at RTHA and LLA are smaller in capacity than the specifications described above.
To operate in poor visibility or fog, each crash tender is equipped with a driving support system (screen – visual) and has access to a tablet displaying all vehicles (including cars, trucks, and pushback vehicles) present on the runway and taxiway. This is done through transponders. These transponders transmit all necessary information about the vehicles and aircraft present, and using this data, the incident can be specifically targeted for firefighting. In the event of an incident, the control tower or fire brigade operations center indicates the location of the incident on the airport through a computer system connected to the tablet. Once the crew responds, the system immediately shows the shortest route, and the crew is informed about the incident while en route.
In the event of an incident, three crash tenders are always dispatched simultaneously, and a total of up to 42,500 liters of extinguishing fluid can be deployed within 80 seconds. A thermal imaging camera can precisely locate the fire source of an interior fire, and by piercing the fuselage with a firefighting lance, an interior fire can be suppressed.
The crash tender is equipped with two firefighting monitors with capacities of 4,000 and 6,000 liters per minute. Through a hydraulic arm, firefighting fluid can be sprayed from a height of 15.5 meters to cool down the aircraft.
Aratis contributions for Schiphol Group:
- Developing the program of requirements (Systems Engineering)
- Preparing the tender process (selection criteria)
- Implementing the tender process (verification process)
- Guiding delivery (validation process)
- Supporting implementation at the fire department (acceptance process)
The experts involved in this project:
Jan Roelof Kooreman
Jan Roelof is an experienced project manager with broad experience in real estate project development and management. He often operates on the side of...
