The current methods used by fire fighters to gain access into a downed aircraft under fire conditions require the fire fighters to set up ladders, scaffolds, or other bulky structures to access the fuselage.  An access window is cut into the fuselage by a heavy, hand-held circular saw, with the fire fighters in dangerously close proximity to the fire source.  Cutting technology is also currently used to provide ventilation holes, which allow the smoke inside the cabin to exit.  The process of transporting and erecting the necessary structures to facilitate the firefighters during cutting operations is cumbersome, slow, and has the potential to yield unnecessary injuries and fatalities among the passengers and fire fighters.

To reduce the risk of injury to fire fighters and passengers, a new device for remotely cutting an access and ventilation window into the fuselage under fire conditions has been designed, developed, fabricated and tested. The cutting device has been integrated into a High Reaching Extendible Turret (HRET).  Similar HRET are currently in use by aircraft firefighting crews at airports around the country. A lightweight, remote controlled, effective, and simple to use cutting device, which enables fire fighters to gain access to a downed aircraft for both rescue operations and ventilation has been designed and tested.

The purpose of this technology is to remove the fire fighter from the cutting process, thus increasing their safety.  This will be accomplished with the design of a semi-autonomous cutting system that can be used to cut a hole in the aircraft fuselage for either ventilation or passenger egress. The cutting system is able to consistently cut through the aluminum skin, stringers, and frame of the fuselage and is intuitively controlled by a single operator. The sensors aboard the cutting device allow device to autonomously follow the curvature of the fuselage. To reduce the permanent weight of the cutting system mounted to the firetruck, the cutting device will be attached to the HRET through the use of quick connects and stored in the truck bay.