Construction of a new $11.5 million aviation fire fighting training ground at Melbourne Airport in underway.
The ‘hot fire’ training facility will be the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, with more than 250 fire fighters expected to pass through each year, Airservices Australia says.
The centrepiece of the 15,000sqm training ground will be a full sized mock-up aircraft fuselage replicating sections from Airbus A380, Boeing 767 and DC-10 aircraft. The 56m long, 10m high and 29m wide mock-up will be used to simulate real-world aviation fire fighting and rescue scenarios.
The facility is expected to open by early 2013.
