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| The USMC will not provide answers or reference material concerning the toxic dangers in the event of a Harrier Crash. One group familiar with the dangers of a Harrier crash is the Celtic League a Military Monitoring group in Great Britain that monitors the Military. Following are edited excerpts from a manual entitled: RAF POST CRASH MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES BACKGROUND The Royal Air Force, often criticized for the physical dangers its low flying operations causes, has nonetheless continued what it regards as this essential training across the more sparsely-populated areas of the British Isles. Now a new problem has emerged which compounds the threat caused by military aircraft accidents. Increasingly the construction of aircraft has involved the use of lightweight carbon fiber components and up to a ton of this material is used in the construction of many military jet combat aircraft. It is also, again due to its lightweight and immense strength, being included in the construction of helicopters. THE PROBLEM When aircraft crashes occur, in many instances the crash is attended by an extremely fierce fire. Military aircraft invariably carry a highly combustible cargo of both fuel, other lubricants and also ordnance. In the violent impact and attendant fire which accompanies the crash, the perfectly stable and harmless nature of many of the components which up the aircraft can be radically altered. This situation has been well known for years and has led to the increasingly specialized training required to handle air crash fire incidents. However, the hazard posed by the interaction of impact and violent fire on the carbon fiber materials has not until recently been property appreciated. When burned in an aviation fuel fire, Carbon fiber components decompose to liberate large clouds of dust. These dust clouds are made up of needle stick filaments which can carry over a considerable area from the crash site. The effects of this toxic dust for both rescue crews, and members of the public who live in the vicinity, are highly dangerous. The military, who first became aware of the problem, have identified three major areas of danger from the liberation of this material in crash situations: 1) Sharp splinters of material exposed and distributed on impact; 2) Dust or vapor released by burning of the composite which can affect exposed skin and is highly carcinogenic if ingested; 3) Vapor released by burning resin (used to bond the composites). Again, as with the dust, there is considerable danger from exposure or inhalation. Of all the irritant gases, nitrous fumes are the most insidious and the margin between the concentration that produces mild symptoms and the FATAL concentration is small. Workers and onlookers may inhale a fatal dose without ill effects being noted for 2-4 hours. POST CRASH MANAGEMENT One would have considered that any successful post crash management strategy would have been based on wide-ranging dissemination of information via the media to the public. In this way members of the public, sometimes drawn by a morbid fascination to such crash sites, would be discouraged. This however was not the case and far from disseminating information about the problem, which to date has drawn comment only in specialist publications, the strategy is to maintain public ignorance and "manage" the media. The extent of the clean up will depend on both the aircraft type, the extent of the fire and impact. It may, for instance, be necessary to remove contaminated topsoil; from a large area and liaise with local civil authorities for its safe disposal. CONCLUSION The operation of military aircraft, particularly low flying training exercises overpopulated areas, poses a problem not just in respect of noise pollution, nuisance and physical damage in the event of accident. They also pose a serious environmental threat in the event of crash, severe impact and fire. |
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