NTSB · Safety Recommendation
Safety Recommendation A-14-049
Recommendation
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Work with the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Working Group to develop and distribute policy guidance and training materials to ensure that all airport and mutual aid firefighting officers placed in command at the scene of an aircraft accident have at least a minimum level of ARFF training.
Safety Issue and Context
This report discusses the July 6, 2013, accident involving a Boeing 777-200ER, Korean registration HL7742, operating as Asiana Airlines flight 214, which was on approach to runway 28L when it struck a seawall at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California. Three of the 291 passengers were fatally injured; 40 passengers, 8 of the 12 flight attendants, and 1 of the 4 flight crewmembers received serious injuries. The other 248 passengers, 4 flight attendants, and 3 flight crewmembers received minor injuries or were not injured. The airplane was destroyed.
Safety issues relate to the need for Asiana pilots to adhere to standard operating procedures regarding callouts; reduced design complexity and enhanced training on the airplane’s autoflight system; opportunity at Asiana for new instructors to supervise trainee pilots in operational service during instructor training; guidance for Asiana pilots on use of flight directors during a visual approach; more manual flight for Asiana pilots; a context-dependent low energy alert; research that examines the injury potential from significant lateral forces in airplane crashes and the mechanism that produces high thoracic spinal injuries; evaluation of the adequacy of slide/raft inertia load certification testing; aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) training for officers in command of an aircraft accident response; guidance on when to use a skin-piercing nozzle on a burning airplane fuselage; integration of the medical supply buses at SFO into the airport’s preparation drills; guidance or protocols for ensuring the safety of passengers and crew at risk of a vehicle strike during ARFF operations; requirements for ARFF staffing; improvements in SFO emergency communications; and increased Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight of SFO’s emergency procedures manual.
Safety recommendations are addressed to the FAA, Asiana Airlines, Boeing, the ARFF Working Group, and the City of San Francisco.
Response History
November 4, 2024 · NTSB Correspondence · FAA
We note that you provide ARFF departments a 12-part training video series on Part 139, AC 150/5210-17C, and National Fire Protection Association Standards, and a 5-part training video series on aircraft forcible entry, firefighting with the HRET, and cargo aircraft firefighting. We also note that these training videos are available to the public on the FAA’s website. We believe that these videos, along with AC 150/5210-17C and AC 150/5200-31C, contain guidance that satisfies the intent of this recommendation. Consequently, Safety Recommendation A-14-49 is classified CLOSED-- ACCEPTABLE ACTION.
August 30, 2023 · Recipient Response · FAA
-From Kathryn B. Thomson, Deputy Administrator: The Board also asked in its June letter about the task group committee’s recommendation for the FAA to revise AC 150/5210-17C, Programs for Training ARFF Personnel, to include information for ARFF departments on implementing training related to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and task-specific command and control training on aircraft and airport-related incidents. The FAA accomplishes this with the following ACs:
• AC 150/5210-17C, Section 1.3.12, Familiarization with Firefighters’ Duties under the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP), provides specific language referencing the NIMS to identify and understand the incident command system (ICS) to be utilized in an emergency, according to the NIMS or the AEP.
• AC 150/5200-31C, AEP, provides guidance in meeting the requirements outlined in 14 CFR § 139.325, AEP. These guidelines and standards in this AC are mandatory for Part 139 certificated airports. This AC defines ICS and explains how it will help airports in Chapter 2, Concepts and Principles. The subject of command and control and the application of the NIMS and ICS has been institutionalized and incorporated by reference in Chapter 6, Functional Sections. This chapter provides a sample basic ICS structure for airports to use in Figure 6-2.