Airlines Must Install Additional Safeguards Against Fire

The Transportation Department ordered airlines Tuesday to install smoke detectors in lavatories of all their large aircraft to give pilots early warning of an in-flight fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration rule, part of a series of proposals aimed at providing airline passengers with better protection against fires not easily detected, also requires airliners to have automatic fire extinguishers in lavatory trash receptacles and additional hand-held fire extinguishers in the cabin.

The airlines have 18 months to install the equipment after the rule goes into effect on April 29.

“By preventing the spread of fires, these improvements have the potential to save lives and prevent serious injuries,” said Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

Cabin Safety Rules

The announcement came several weeks after Dole was accused by several members of Congress, including the chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, of not moving quickly enough to implement cabin safety regulations, including those dealing with fire hazards.

Aviation safety groups for years have been pushing for additional safeguards against fires aboard aircraft. The efforts were renewed after a fire aboard an Air Canada jetliner killed 23 persons in June, 1983, as the plane made an emergency landing in Cincinnati.

The Air Canada plane had a fire extinguisher in the trash receptacle of the lavatory where the fire began. However, investigators were unable to determine what caused the fire, although they have speculated that a flush motor may have been responsible.

Last fall, the government ordered airlines to begin installing fire-blocking seat covers on their planes.