About Us

Our mission

Airport Professional Services is committed to providing HRET training tools and promoting the science of agent application efficiency.

To accomplish this goal, our mission is to provide solutions that help train and prepare ARFF departments for all kinds of aircraft events with the intent of improving the overall outcome of any aircraft incident.

Our commitment to agent application

Why we have a passion for aviation firefighting agent application

The Relyeas have a long history in the aviation firefighting industry, starting with Fred Relyea. In 1958 when airport crash trucks were in their very early development, he worked for Walter Motor Truck Company in upstate New York. He worked on the assembly line until 1962 when asked to become a field service delivery tech. In 1967, he left Walter’s to form his own company, Crash Rescue Equipment Service, offering preventive maintenance service. I joined my dad in 1969 to assist with preventive maintenance service contracts.    

We started to refurbish ARFF vehicles in 1981, bringing trucks to Dallas to completely rebuild or replace all components. The remanufacture of ARFF vehicles provided Crash Rescue the opportunity to see innovative advances needed in the ARFF industry. The addition of hydraulic bumper turrets, removing the roof turret from the roof, allowed the operator to see the nozzle, provided much greater visibility and less agent waste. We had the advantage of working on and maintaining all brands of ARFF vehicles. We listened to the firefighters in the field. How could their trucks better help them to fight fire?  We got to see the best of the best and the worst of the worst. The success of the remanufacturing business allowed us to offer many innovative products to the ARFF industry that the manufacturer did not offer. 

This began our venture into focusing on agent application. The quantities of agent utilized to control and suppress the aviation disaster was amazing. There had to be a better way. Then on June 2, 1983, the loss of Air Canada 797 happened at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport. I had delivered and trained those firefighters and knew them well. As I watched them try to lob water into the vent hole of the burning DC9, I knew there had to be a better way.

That set my course to find and develop a product that could make a difference. I searched the industry to find a product that was light weight enough to adapt to ARFF vehicles. That search led me to a product called the Snozzle, developed by an engineer, Ed Garnett. He had developed a light weight aerial device that was mounted on a 1-ton pick-up that could be dispatched throughout cities to address multi-story buildings. Its original design was 40 ft. I approached Ed in the fall of 1983 at the International Fire Chief’s Conference. We had adapted his product to a fire truck for a department in Louisiana. After some discussion, he agreed to work with me to retrofit the Snozzle on an ARFF vehicle. Ed and I worked over the next couple of years on various designs and adaptations. Finally, we identified a fire department that was interested in our idea and concept. In 1986, the Phoenix Fire Department and Chief John Vincent was the very first airport to purchase a remanufactured Oshkosh with a Snozzle. The Snozzle at that time only addressed elevating the stream upward and outward which would have the stream directed in the vent hole of the burning aircraft. In reality, we were somewhat short sighted. Chief Vincent wanted more capability. His idea was to find a way to lower the nozzle to the ground for under carriage, landing gear and cargo bay fires. So back to the drawing board we went. Within about 2 weeks, Ed Garnett redesigned the Snozzle to be lowered to and/or below ground level. We converted the Phoenix Snozzle to achieve Chief Vincent’s request. We thought we had the tiger by the tail. Upon completion of the conversion of the second generation of the Snozzle, Chief Vincent came up with another request. Would it be possible to attach a piercing nozzle at the tip of the nozzle? Back to the drawing board. I located a handheld piercing nozzle and asked the manufacturer to modify it so that we could adapt it to the Snozzle. We redesigned the nozzle with slip clutches and mounted the piercing nozzle. That was the birth of the High Reach Extendable Turret with piercing nozzle, the HRET, in 1987. 

All of the HRETs on the market today are derivatives of the original Snozzle. When we attached the piercing nozzle to the Snozzle, we caught the eye of the FAA Technical Center. They were testing handheld penetrating drills to address the interior fires. In the early 1990s, after perfecting the adaptation of the piercing nozzle, we went to an aircraft boneyard in Charlotte, NC, to test the ability of the boom mounted piercing nozzle. We successfully penetrated all the types of aircraft there. The bench mark of aircraft to penetrate was the DC8. Its construction was by far the most difficult. We had success in penetrating the skin and through the windows. This was the solution to rapidly penetrating the interior of the aircraft and provide the aviation firefighting industry with an innovative tool to address interior firefighting. 

Developing the technology was the easy part. Getting the industry to make the paradigm shift was not so easy. Also, having to meet all of the turret requirements of the FAA and NFPA took a lot of validation and testing. Trust me when I say, it was an uphill battle. The FAA, with the help of Joseph Wright, from the Airport Technology R&D Branch, ARFF Research Program, who at that time was in charge of the fire testing side of the Research Center, could see the benefit of the technology. The HRET was recognized in the 1995 edition of NFPA 414 in the appendix and placed into the body in the 2000 edition. The FAA made funding available to purchase the HRETs in their Advisory for B Category airports and above. It was a long journey but one of the most rewarding accomplishments of my life.

The development of the HRET opened the door for many other advancements in the aviation firefighting industry.  With the success of lowering the primary nozzle lower to the ground, came the development of the Rhino moveable, high flow bumper turret. HydroChem nozzles, color and FLIR camera, lighting packages and a host of other technologies were developed about the same time and have become the staples of the ARFF industry. Our goal was to have at least one piece of our technology on every ARFF vehicle sold. I was the right person at the right time to bring these advancements into the industry. Being independent from all the vehicle manufacturers and having a “never give up” attitude, gave us a tremendous advantage. We weren’t in the business “to sell” vehicles. We were in the business to make them better and lead the industry in a new direction. 

We bring that same energy and innovation to Airport Professional Services, LLC today. We are always looking to improve and innovate the products we offer for the aviation firefighting community.

Our family is very proud of the accomplishments we have brought forward. It truly has been a family affair. Sharon, Elizabeth and Scott came to love this industry, the people with whom we had the great opportunity to work and the many friendships we have developed over the years.

Bob Relyea, President, Airport Professional Services, LLC