AIRPLANE COCKPIT FIRES

Dec. 12, 2005 issue - The government spends a lot of time and money protecting America's air passengers from terrorist attacks and water landings. But the Federal Aviation Administration has been less attentive to a flying danger that occurs far more often: smoke in the cockpit, which can be caused by electrical failures, fluid leaks and cargo fires. Forced landings from smoke or fumes happen nearly once a day on average. But pilots still lack an effective way of dealing with fires and smoke-flooded cockpits, which were blamed in the crashes of ValuJet 592 and Swissair 111 in recent years. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card had a glimpse of the problem Nov. 26 when his Gulfstream made an emergency landing in Nashville because of mysterious fumes.

The FAA has begun to address the issue, circulating advisories on onboard fires to airlines; on Nov. 23 it proposed a new rule to keep fuel tanks safe. But a senior Bush administration official with oversight over transportation issues, who was granted anonymity because he didn't want to be quoted criticizing the FAA, says, "They need to become more aggressive given the number of incidents." One airline, JetBlue, has voluntarily adopted an inexpensive device called EVAS (Enhanced Vision Assurance System), a vinyl tube that lets a pilot see the window and instruments. The FAA requires it on its own planes. Why not for the public? FAA spokesman Greg Martin says that, as Card's situation shows, smoke incidents are usually resolved safely because pilots are trained to land before they get out of hand.

—Michael Hirsh