Executive Summary
Held every three years, the Aircraft Fire and Cabin Safety Conference is run on behalf of FAA, JAA, Transport Canada and the Australian, Brazilian, Japanese and Russian Authorities. In November 2004 it was the first time the conference has been held in Europe, all previous events have been in the USA.
Over 300 people attended from airlines, safety researchers, aerospace manufacturers and regulators around the world. The purpose of the conference was to provide an opportunity for researchers to publicise the latest research and for the aviation community to influence future research directions. The Conference was held in Lisbon, Portugal, an area of futuristic buildings and attractive gardens offering major conference facilities.
The Conference comprised presentations and discussions in the areas of fire safety (including advances in the inerting of fuel tanks to reduce the risk of explosions), crash dynamics, evacuation and operational issues. Advanced materials with low flammability for cabin interiors was another research area of much interest and the subject of aircraft emergency evacuation was extensively covered, with a particular focus on the new generation of double deck aircraft, where software models have been a much greater understanding of the factors involved when large numbers of people need to leave the aircraft very quickly.
