Oz fire-busters for Bhubaneswar airport

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to fight any exigency during landing or take-off of flights, the Biju Patnaik Airport authorities today acquired two sophisticated fire tenders. Made in Australia, their water jet can reach up to the height of 90 metres.
Priced at Rs 5 crore each, the airport authorities will procure one more Panther next week. The Biju Patnaik Airport is the first domestic aerodrome to procure Panther.
The air-conditioned fire tenders — christened Panther — will not only fight fire in the airport. They would be made available to douse any major fire in the city.
“We are ready to attend any major fire in the city, which cannot be controlled by the state fire brigade. But for that we need a request for the state government,” said T. Mandal, the director of the Airport Authorities of India, Bhubaneswar.
Weighing 27 tonnes, each of the Australian fire tenders has the capacity to carry 12,000 litre of water and 1,600 litre of aqua film foam, used to extinguish fire.
Panthers can carry five personnel of the airport fire control, including a driver, an in-charge and two operators. They are equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) and very high frequency communication sets to coordinate with the pilots of aircraft.
23/07/10 Ajit Dash/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Jul 2010