Chairman's Message
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 2024
Dear Members,
The air travel statistics had almost reached pre-pandemic levels globally but even before we can start the year, we saw on 03 Jan 2024 the terrifying footage of a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 catching fire when it collided with a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft waiting to takeoff on the runway, which had left the world shocked. Remarkably, all 379 people on board the A350 survived by escaping via the evacuation slides before the plane was engulfed in flames. Unfortunately, five of the six crew on board the coastguard aircraft perished.
The performance of the flight crew on the A350 was impressive, with no fatalities and only 17 passengers suffering minor injuries as we would come to expect when using evacuation slides. We will await more details as the investigators complete their work to address how the supposed runway incursion occurred. As always, IAFPA stands ready to assist in any way to highlight and disseminate the many learnings which will undoubtedly resonate from this incident.
We, at IAFPA have been hard at work on reorganizing ourselves. We have inducted new members to the Board to provide new ideas on bringing IAFPA forward. Our finances have also improved with strict controls on costs. The association emblem has also been updated.
At the Board level, I would like to congratulate Messer Puar Teck Jin and Rodney Evans on assuming the Chief’s position within their organizations. Both members are experienced veterans and most appropriate to lead their respective organizations and I wish them all the very best in the coming years. Our founding Chairman, John Trew was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award presented by the US ARFF Working Group in May 2023, where he picked up the award personally in the US. On behalf of the IAFPA Board, our sincere best wishes, and congratulations to John for all the hard work and dedication since 2000.
On 10 September 2023 at Changi Airport, airport firefighters attended-to an aircraft evacuation incident arising from a mid-air engine fire. The last aircraft evacuation incident occurred in 1982 at Changi’s Runway 2. Based on my conversations with the operational staff, I can conclude that the responding crew did well, and even went beyond their duties to ensure the passengers were well taken care of while waiting to be transported to the terminal building. There were also valuable takeaways to better manage a similar incident, both from a tactical point of view, and from the passenger experience perspective.
We should also reflect on the fire within the car park at Luton Airport in the UK, which started as a simple car fire which rapidly spread and ended with the collapse of the structure and subsequent loss of around 1200 vehicles.
Even as we celebrate success, it saddens me that my immediate successor as Chief AES and one of our board members, Alvin Lee, passed away on 07 April 2023 after a 2-year battle with cancer. I’ve known him for many years since his term at the Singapore Police Force before transiting to the Airport Emergency Service and we were looking forward for him to propel AES through a new era. I pay tribute to him for steering the service through the pandemic, keeping the service fully operational despite the numerous constraints.
In May 2023, we held a joint seminar with Singapore Airlines (SIA) where our Board Member, Gilles Crichton, and myself presented to the SIA pilots about ARFF. It was a successful event, with the moderator from SIA commenting that IAFPA and SIA should continue to collaborate on similar events in future.
For the 2024 outlook, IAFPA is looking at training collaboration with one of our corporate members, Beijing Super Umbrella, in Wuhan, at one of their training facilities in China.
With aviation growing at an exciting pace, do pay any of our members a courtesy call if you happen to visit any of our countries!
On behalf of the Board, I wish you and your loved ones a prosperous and safe 2024!
Cletus MJ Packiam
Chairman, IAFPA