Martyn Cartledge spends a day with Manchester Airport Fire and Rescue Service’s Red Watch, finding out what really happens behind the big red doors.
Would you like to do a job that you train hard for, is both mentally and physically demanding, but you hope you will never have to put into practice? Well, that’s the life of an airport firefighter. However, there is a great deal more to becoming part of the team than you might initially assume and, as one member of Red Watch succinctly put it: “It’s rare that we get a shout that involves squirting water at aeroplanes; that’s just a small part of why we are here.”
Statutory Requirements
The Aerodrome Licence (CAP 168) requires the holder to ensure that appropriate rescue and firefighting services (RFFS) are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Manchester Airport has a category ten status, allowing it to handle aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380.
So, the licence holder must provide suitable vehicles as well as the staff for them – and there are 84 personnel on Manchester’s RFFS roster, split across four watches. Each watch has been given a colour – red, white, black and green – and is made up of 21 staff each, with a minimum m…
