CIFS Officer in Stable Condition, Other Released

From GIS

One of the Cayman Brac fire officers involved in yesterday’s (Thursday, 5 January 2017) fire truck accident on the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport runway remains in hospital in stable condition, while the other officer has been treated and released.

Both officers were transported by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s helicopter to Grand Cayman to the Health Service Authority (HSA) yesterday afternoon.

The fire truck involved in the crash was removed from the airport runway after the accident analyst completed his on-site assessment, enabling normal airport operations to resume for all smaller Cayman Airways Limited aircrafts yesterday evening.

Senior management with the Cayman Islands Fire Service (CIFS), Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) and other stake holders are in the process of identifying an interim strategy that will support the resumption of jet services at the earliest opportunity.

Full investigations are being conducted by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) as well as an independent accident analyst. In addition, the Fire Service is arranging for the manufacturer of the Osh Kosh T-3000 truck to send one of their experts to assess the vehicle, which was purchased directly from them in 2006.

Mandatory speed testing of the fire trucks that support airport operations is conducted monthly by the Fire Service in accordance with regulatory requirements that must be complied with by all Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) providers.

Under the RFFS regulations, systems and procedures must be in place to ensure the best possible response time in the case of an emergency.

The operational objective of the RFFS procedure is to achieve a response time not exceeding two minutes to any point on the runway. “Response time” is defined as the time between when the call is initially received and the time when the first responding vehicles arrive.

Speeds between 65 to 69 miles per hour are attained during speed tests as well as in response to an actual aerodrome emergency. These speeds comply with those allowed under the RFFS regulations.

Fire personnel are required to be licensed to Group 4 level and must undergo specialist training to qualify to drive a fire truck. Driver skill and expertise is augmented by technology, including integrated on-board safety systems which alert the driver before excessive speeds are attained.

In the 12 years since the last airport based fire truck accident occurred on the runway at Owen Roberts International Airport in January 2005, an average of 144 performance tests for speed have been conducted at that location and a similar number have been executed in Cayman Brac without incident. In addition to the monthly performance checks, the vehicles also undergo daily inspections as part of shift handover.

As the cause of the crash has yet to be determined pending the completion of the ongoing investigations, Government Information Services will continue to provide more information as it becomes available.

Related story:

Cayman Islands fire officers transported to Grand Cayman

Both Cayman Brac fire officers involved in the fire truck accident on the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport runway this morning (Thursday, 5 January 2017) have been transported by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s helicopter to Grand Cayman, for further medical investigations at the Health Service Authority.

An accident reconstructionist is currently conducting an assessment of the accident scene on the runway.

As soon as the assessment is completed, officials will work to get the fire truck moved off of the runway so operations for small aircrafts can resume.

Cayman Airways Limited was notified of the current situation and is making arrangements to accommodate passengers who had plans to arrive on tomorrow’s jet in Cayman Brac.

The Ministry of Home Affairs would like to thank all private and public sector stakeholders for their expressions of concern for the fire personnel involved and for their support and assistance, without which this most unfortunate accident would have been much more difficult to deal with.

The goal remains restoration of normal airport operations at the earliest opportunity.

Government Information Services will release more information as it becomes available.

END

See related iNews Cayman story “CIFS fire truck accident on Cayman Brac airport runway” published January 5, 2017 at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-islands-cifs-fire-truck-accident-on-cayman-brac-airport-runway/