Operational area | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | Virginia |
Special District | |
Agency overview [1] [2] | |
Established | 1987 |
Annual calls | 6,792 (2013 total)
|
Employees | 157 (2015 total)
|
Staffing | Career |
Fire chief | Interim |
EMS level | Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) |
IAFF | IAFF Local 3217 |
Facilities and equipment [3] | |
Battalions | 2 Battalions |
Stations | 4 Fire Stations |
Engines | 4 Engine Companies |
Platforms | 1 Platform Truck |
Ambulances | 5 -Advanced Life Support (ALS) medic units 2 - Basic Life Support (BLS) Units |
HAZMAT | 1 HazMat Truck |
Airport crash | 9 Crash Trucks |
Website | |
Official website |
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Fire & Rescue Department is a special service fire department responsible for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport in the Washington metropolitan area. [1] The department was formed from the Federal Aviation Administration's Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Branch when the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was established in June 1987. Prior to that time, both airports were owned and operated by the FAA. [4]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(April 2015) |
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Fire and Rescue Department serves as the primary responders for the fire, rescue, and EMS response for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport as well as portions of Virginia State Route 267 consisting of parts of the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Airport Access Highway adjacent to the airport. They also respond through mutual aid agreements to protect a larger service area that includes Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Washington, D.C., and other surrounding counties within the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Region. Mutual Aid responses have occurred outside the region to areas such as Baltimore City, MD for specialized equipment that the MWAA FRD possesses that was used at the Howard Street Tunnel fire.
The department has a total of four stations split into two battalions. Battalion 301, which is home to station 301, is at Reagan-National while Battalion 302, home to stations 302, 303 and 304, are located at Dulles International. [5] As of January 2018 [update] this is a list of apparatus in use by the department: [3]
Station | Airport | Engine Company | Foam unit | Ambulance / Medic units | Tower company | Other units | Chief units |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
301 | Reagan National | E301 E301B | 310 311 312 | A301 M301 M301B | HazMat 301, MCSU 301, MCP 300, Utility 301 | BC301 | |
302 | Dulles International | 320 321 | A302 M302 M302B | TW302 | Twin Agent 302, Special Ops 302 MCSU 302 | BC302 | |
303 | Dulles International | E303 E303B | A303 | Safety 322 | |||
304 | Dulles International | 340 341 | Command Aide 321 | C320 |
On November 1, 1949, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster operated by Eastern Air Lines as flight 537 was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) when a Bolivian P-38 Lightning operating from nearby Bolling Air Force Base was declaring an emergency due to erratic operation of one of the engines. [7] The two aircraft collided mid-air, killing all 51 passengers and 4 crewmembers on board and leaving the P-38 pilot with serious injuries. [7]
The world's largest airshow of the time was held over a period of nine days at Dulles Airport from May 27 to June 4 of 1972, nicknamed Transpo '72. The event included all forms of transportation, including high speed rail demos and jumbo jets of the time. During the air show events, three separate fatal incidents occurred. The first involved a hang glider kite accident killing the pilot. [8] The second incident during an aircraft race when a sport pilot crashed into a pylon and careened into the woods on the far side of the airstrip from the spectators killing him. The last incident was the first fatal accident for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds when Major Joe Howard lost power while flying his McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and ejected successfully from the crash. However, Maj. Howard was blown into the fireball from the crash, causing his parachute to melt and Maj. Howard to receive fatal injuries from the fall.
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, clipped the 14th Street Bridge before crashing into the Potomac River shortly after takeoff from National Airport. [9] Of the 74 passengers and 5 crew members on board, only four passengers and one flight attendant survived the crash. In addition, due to heavy traffic on the bridge at the time from a snow storm impacting the region, four motorists in vehicles on the bridge were killed. [9] The snow storm, and traffic congestion were noted to delay response and impede access of response resources throughout the region. Due to the deficiencies noted in the response in icy waters, the department improved their River Rescue capabilities with airboats capable of operating on surface ice of the river. [9]
On September 11, 2001, a team of five al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 77, en route from Dulles International to Los Angeles International Airport, and deliberately crashed it into The Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. EDT as part of the September 11 attacks. [10] All 64 people on the airliner were killed as were 125 people who were in the building. The impact of the plane severely damaged the structure of the building and caused its partial collapse. [11] The MWAA Fire & Rescue Department units from Fire Station 301 were among the first units on scene at the Pentagon, and staff and equipment from both airports operated at the incident scene for several days past the initial incident operations.
Washington Dulles International Airport is an international airport in Loudoun County and Fairfax County in Northern Virginia, United States, 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown Washington, D.C.
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked, and in which (a) a person is fatally or seriously injured, (b) the aircraft sustains significant damage or structural failure, or (c) the aircraft goes missing or becomes completely inaccessible. Annex 13 defines an aviation incident as an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operation.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, referred to colloquially as National Airport, Reagan, Reagan National, or simply DCA, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is the smaller of two commercial airports owned by the federal government and operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) that serve the Washington metropolitan area around Washington, D.C.; the larger is Dulles International Airport about 25 miles (40 km) to the west in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The airport is 5 miles (8.0 km) from downtown Washington, D.C.
Kalitta Air is an American cargo airline headquartered at Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. The company operates international scheduled and cargo charter services. Its call sign "Connie" is from its founder, Connie Kalitta.
Columbia Metropolitan Airport is the main commercial airport for Columbia and the Midlands region of South Carolina, United States. The airport is located in West Columbia, five miles (8.0 km) southwest of Columbia, in Lexington County. It is surrounded by the city of Cayce and the towns of Springdale, Pine Ridge, and South Congaree. The airport is a regional cargo hub for UPS Airlines.
Avianca Flight 410 was a flight that crashed at 13:17 on March 17, 1988, near Cúcuta, Colombia, which occurred shortly after takeoff when it flew into a mountain. All 143 people on board were killed. It was the deadliest aviation accident to occur in Colombia at the time.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1998.
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a cargo airline based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight companies, forest fire patrols, and aircraft sales and leasing in Canada and worldwide. It also provides maintenance and aircraft manufacturing services.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U.S. national capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines in August 1972.
In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, a very rare occurrence. Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water are generally not considered water landings or ditching.
N'Djamena International Airport serves N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad. It is the country's only international airport. The airport is dual use, with civilian and military installations on opposite sides of the single runway.
As of July 2020, a total of 60 Boeing 747 aircraft, or just under 4% of the total number of 747s built, first flown commercially in 1970, have been involved in accidents and incidents resulting in a hull loss, meaning that the aircraft was either destroyed or damaged beyond economical repair. Of the 60 Boeing 747 aircraft losses, 32 resulted in no loss of life; in one, a hostage was murdered; and in one, a terrorist died. Some of the aircraft that were declared damaged beyond economical repair were older 747s that sustained relatively minor damage. Had these planes been newer, repairing them might have been economically viable, although with the 747's increasing obsolescence, this is becoming less common. Some 747s have been involved in accidents resulting in the highest death toll of any civil aviation accident, the highest death toll of any single airplane accident, and the highest death toll of a midair collision. As with most airliner accidents, the root of cause(s) in these incidents involved a confluence of multiple factors that rarely could be ascribed to flaws with the 747's design or its flying characteristics.
Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.
In aeronautics, loss of control (LOC) is the unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight and is a significant factor in several aviation accidents worldwide. In 2015 it was the leading cause of general aviation accidents. Loss of control may be the result of mechanical failure, external disturbances, aircraft upset conditions, or inappropriate crew actions or responses.
The Denver Fire Department provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Denver, Colorado. The department is responsible for an area of 155 square miles (400 km2) with a population estimated at 690,000. The Denver Fire Department also provides fire protection to the citizens of Glendale, Sheridan, Skyline and Englewood.