ALUMINIUM DOES NOT MELT

Aluminium has a lower melting point than carbon steel. As this is commonly known within certain industries. We, as an aluminium helideck manufacturer, have been asked many times what happens to an aluminium helideck or helipad when the helicopter on top of it catches fire. We answer that our helidecks or helipads are either equipped with a DIFFS or have a Safedeck configuration. Both systems will extinguish any fire on a helideck within seconds, so nothing happens to the helideck. However, regardless of the firefighting systems, aluminium helidecks are equivalent to steel helidecks in structural integrity during a pool fire. To make this evident, we have conducted a pool fire test on a helideck mock-up with a simulated parked helicopter on the helideck.

The details of the test are:

• One thousand five hundred litres (400 gallons) of Jet A1 fuel was placed on a 5m*5m (16ft*16ft) aluminium helideck mockup.
• Ignited and acting a pool fire wherein a helicopter loses its fuel during a crash on the helideck. The aircraft was simulated as a solid weight of 5200kg (11500lbs) placed on a carbon steel table, simulating helicopters undercarriage.
• The fire lasted for more than 15 minutes, and even the collapse of the table did not damage the helideck surface. DNV has witnessed the fire test.