U.S. Federal Aviation Administration -FAA- Approves Telair International Blast-Resistant Baggage Container

Business Wire,  Feb 8, 2002  

Tags: FAA

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RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8. 2002

Southern California Company Will Manufacture First Production Units,

February 2002; Blast Resistant Material is Suitable for Multiple

Aircraft Security Applications

Telair International, Inc., a subsidiary of Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX), today confirmed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval of the Telair blast resistant passenger aircraft baggage container.

The "hardened unit load device" (HULD) successfully passed the FAA's rigorous blast test, August 14, 2001. Supplementary and component testing has now concluded.

Telair has received a Technical Standard Order (TSO-C90) from the FAA for the HULD container, thereby making it ready for marketplace applications. Production for sale to the world's commercial airlines has already begun at Telair's manufacturing site in California.

The HULD will be primarily used to provide security for the on-board air transportation of passenger baggage. The new container is fully compatible with Telair, and other, standard aircraft cargo loading systems now in service worldwide, with over 50 leading passenger and air cargo carriers. This important compatibility feature will enable immediate HULD application by purchasing airlines.

Telair International is the nation's first air cargo container design and manufacturing company to successfully pass the FAA's blast resistant container test. "Other competitor ULDs are available but none offer the high protection, lower integration costs and lighter weight construction demanded by the world's airlines. Telair International provides single source, fully integrated, complete cargo systems for both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft. Now, we offer the latest FAA approved, lightweight, blast-resistant baggage container technology," said Telair Vice President and General Manager, Dennis Staver.

Contrary to its technical description, the Telair HULD is not a hard paneled container. It uses a patented configuration of KEVLAR(R) brand fiber materials developed in association with DuPont and incorporates these with innovative design techniques that are unique to the industry. The result is a lighter weight baggage container using flexible, high-strength composite panels to absorb and deflect explosive forces. The unit is extremely rugged and resistant to external impacts, water intrusion and ultra-violet degradation. The materials used also surpass Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) 25 flammability standards.

"Our new container systems immediately address the growing security and business needs of the global air travel and cargo carrier industries by allowing our present customer base to merge HULD units with Telair cargo systems already in use. By combining Telair equipment, the airline manager can successfully increase security and achieve significant weight savings per aircraft," he said.

For example: By combining the somewhat heavier HULD with Telair's Ultralite(TM) LD-3 container, a carrier will successfully increase security and achieve significant weight and associated fuel cost savings on each flight. It is generally held that one pound of dead weight costs $100 in fuel costs per annum.

For illustration: A Boeing 747-400 aircraft, equipped with 16 standard aluminum LD-3s normally has a total of 3,200 lbs. empty container weight. Alternatively, by using one Telair HULD container, for specifically profiled or screened baggage, plus 15 Telair high strength, composite Ultralite LD-3 containers, the combined empty container weight total would be approximately 2,425 lbs., an overall weight savings of approximately 775 lbs.

A conservative value estimate for the resulting fuel cost savings would be $77,500 per year, per aircraft.

This example does not take into account the revenue generated by the additional load capacity enabled by the combined container weight savings...and peace of mind for those passengers electing to fly on an aircraft equipped with the Telair HULD system.

The HULD has been in development since 1997. Over the past four years Telair engineers have worked closely with the FAA and its international counterparts in the effort to design and build practical equipment that would meet the security and business demands of the commercial airline industry. During this period, a series of bomb tests were conducted by the FAA. The tests concluded August 14, 2001, with Telair's HULD successfully meeting the stringent FAA requirements.

The tests involved the detonation of a significant explosive charge placed within a closed and packed container. The loaded unit was secured in an actual aircraft cargo hold structure to accurately replicate the normal use environment. "The Telair HULD contained the explosion entirely and all associated fragmentation. The unit performed exactly as the engineers expected. Now, our commercial airline customers will be able to offer heightened security and not adversely impact bottom line performance because of fuel cost increases caused by added baggage container weight. This is the baggage handling and security package the airlines and public have been seeking," Staver concluded.