News

Waterford Airport orders Ireland’s top fire and rescue appliance

Nickey Fewer & Martin Cullen in Rosenbauer

Pictured in the new Rosenbauer Panther (L-R) is Nickey Fewer (Chairman, Waterford Airport) and Martin Cullen (Minister for Transport).

Waterford Airport has taken delivery from a UK company for a fire-fighting appliance which is the first of its kind for an Irish airport. Angloco UK delivered the €600,000 new fire and rescue appliance at the end of 2006.

The Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 CA5 is a specialist aviation fire appliance which carries 12,000 litres of water and 1,600 litres of foam. This gives the monitor – the spray jet mounted on the roof – the ability to produce 7,000 litres of foam per minute. The monitor can pump the foam to a range of around 100 metres and can be operated effectively from the safety of the cab.

The 34 tonne appliance can accelerate from 0 to 80km/h in less than 32 seconds and move at a top speed of 125km/h. The appliance has many extra features, including all-wheel drive capability, allowing it to climb over obstacles and traverse rough terrain. With the steeper angle of the windscreen and transparent doors, the Panther gives very good visibility. It also provides more headroom for the driver and crew members and the wide doors make the cab easily accessible.

Aidan Power, Waterford Airport General Manager, said that before delivery of the new appliance, airport staff travelled to the Rosenbauer plant in Austria to perform an initial production inspection and later to conduct a final inspection of the completed appliance.

“The introduction of the Panther appliance represents a significant upgrade of the airport’s aircraft rescue and fire fighting capabilities, including requirements for future jet operations as the airport continues to see increasing volumes of traffic,” said Mr. Power.

April 2007