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HRET development

Our involvement in the development of the Snozzle/HRET

Back in the early 80’s, at Crash Rescue Equipment Service, we thought about “How could their trucks better help them to fight fire?”

The huge quantities of agent utilized to control and suppress an aviation disaster was amazing. 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.

Over the next several years, with the help of engineers and ARFF visionaries, the Snozzle was developed addressing not only elevating the stream upward and outward, but to lower the nozzle to the ground for under carriage, landing gear and cargo bay fires. Then, to add a piercing nozzle to the tip of the nozzle. When the piercing nozzle was added, the FAA Technical Center took notice as they had been working on a handheld drill to address interior fires. 

After completing all the turret requirement testing and validation, the HRET was recognized in the 1995 edition of NFPA 414 in the appendix and placed in the body in the 2000 addition. It took 20 years to get the HRET developed and recognized. Then came the hard work of convincing the industry to make a paradigm shift in the way they fought aircraft fires.

The benefits of the Snozzle/HRET