umlaut

Halon gas has been used in portable handheld fire extinguishers in aircraft since the 1960s.
Following its classification as a CFC gas, which depletes the ozone layer, the use of halon fire extinguishers has been prohibited throughout the EU since 2004. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have also stipulated that as of mid-2019, all newly registered wide-body aircraft must be equipped with environmentally friendly fire extinguishers and all existing aircraft must be retrofitted by 2025.

This was motivation enough for well-known manufacturer umlaut to develop a halon-free alternative. The result was HAFEX: the smallest, lightest and most versatile environmentally friendly cabin fire extinguisher.

It also needed to be versatile in terms of installation options. It was therefore created as a drop‑in alternative that could be used on existing mounting points for typical halon fire extinguishers in all civil aircraft types. It is compatible with the different mounting types used by all large aircraft manufacturers. In some aircraft types, the drop‑in feature is not needed, since the current brackets are sufficient.

For deliveries of fire extinguishers in the United States, for example, it is mandatory to always include a bracket. This law is defined by the American organisation Underwriters Laboratories, which certifies products regarding safety. However, the previously used brackets were heavy and made of metal screws covered with rubber, which were screwed together in a complicated way.