Jet fuel additive poised for crucial crash test An aviation fuel additive that reduces the likelihood that an airplane will be engulfed in flames after a crash will undergo its most crucial test to date next month. The antimisting kerosine additive known as Avgard will be tested when a remote-controlled Boeing 720 flying on fuel treated with the new additive will be crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The $9 million test will be conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Avgard, under development for nearly 20 years, is the brainchild of ICI Americas, Wilmington, Del., and ICI Paints, Slough, England. The additive " p r e v e n t s kerosine from misting and forming large fireballs when a fuel tank is ruptured in a crash," explains James L. McAbee, commercial manager for the additive at ICI Americas. He notes that "35 to 40% of the passengers surviving the impact of a crash lose their lives in postcrash fires. With new wide-body jets carrying [more] passengers, the ability to prevent postcrash fires or, at the very least, give passengers more time to evacuate the plane, becomes increasingly important." When a plane crashes, the high wind shear whips up the spilled fuel into a fine flammable mist that can be easily ignited by a spark. Avgard contains a trademarked, high-molecular-weight polymer called FM-9 that inhibits the formation of the potentially explosive mist. According to ICI, the polymer molecules tend to form a weak lattice structure that holds together the liquid fuel droplets. Since the fuel must be misted before it can burn in an aircraft engine, the additive's antimisting effect must be removed just before it reaches the engines. This is accomplished with devices called degraders, which are mounted on each engine. Since 1978, FAA has conducted several hundred wing spillage tests with Avgard-modified fuel, as well as five ground-based crashes. These tests have shown that Avgard dra-
Additive would prevent formation of fireball from fuel tank rupture in crash matically reduces the tendency of fuel to ignite and propagate a fire. The upcoming test in September promises to subject the additive to the most realistic accident scenario so far. Both FAA and ICI Americas expect Avgard to pass muster. If it
does, the aviation agency has said it will issue in late 1984 or early 1985 a notice of proposed rule making. This notice, McAbee says, will indicate to the aviation industry that FAA is "seriously considering the mandated use" of the antimisting additive on commercial aircraft. D
Scientists offer to go to U.S.S.R. to aid Bonner In "a desperate attempt to help resolve the crisis" involving Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov and his wife, Elena Bonner, 55 prominent scientists from 13 nations are offering to go to the U.S.S.R. to serve as guarantors or "good faith witnesses" if the Soviets will allow Bonner to go abroad for medical treatment. The proposal was outlined at a press conference in Washington, D.C., last week by the International Coalition of Scientists for Sakharov (ICSS), an ad hoc group. Also present was the Sakharovs' daughter, Tanya Yankelevich, a U.S. resident. The 55 scientists include six Nobel Laureates, 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, and m e m b e r s of foreign academies, among them chemists Christian Anfinsen, Paul Flory, Izaak Kolthoff, and Max Tishler. Concern and protests have mounted since Sakharov, 63, began a hunger strike May 2, demanding his wife, 61, be allowed to get medical treatment abroad. The Soviets say both are in satisfactory health, but have allowed no contact with them
to confirm this. The Soviets reportedly may be using force-feeding and forced psychiatric treatment, including psychotropic drugs, on Sakharov (C&EN, July 23, page 8). And Bonner may go on trial soon for anti-Soviet slander, punishable by up to three years in a labor camp. Soviet officials told ICSS that Bonner cannot travel abroad because she would use it for political attacks on the U.S.S.R. The ICSS proposal aims to end this concern. Under it, pairs of scientists would travel at their own expense to the Soviet Union and spend a week there, each pair being relieved by the subsequent pair during Bonner's stay abroad. The scientists would "bear personal witness" to the Sakharovs' assertions the trip is only for medical purposes and a family visit. The guarantors also would explore steps to improve Soviet-western scientific relations. The Soviets view the Sakharovs' case as an internal matter; it's doubtful they will accept such foreign intervention. However, ICSS believes the proposal is important beAugust 20, 1984 C&EN
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