Airport'ARFF truck fails foam test; commercial operations limited while repairs ordered

The Logan-Cache Airport Authority was told the airport's ARFF (Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting) truck failed a regulatory foam-concentration test and is temporarily out of service for commercial (Part 139) operations while parts are ordered and repairs completed.

"It has to be above 2.8% of foam to water, and we didn't pass," the manager said, explaining that a technician attributed the failure to a new foam product that mixes differently through the truck's apparatus. He said the airport notified the FAA inspector and followed the required steps to pull the vehicle out of commercial service.

The manager said the technician is assembling a parts list, the airport manager will approve the order, and repairs could take "a couple weeks" after parts arrive. During that outage the airport cannot accept airline flights that require Part 139 ARFF coverage; the manager said the FAA inspector understood the situation and the airport followed protocol.

Board members discussed funding and reimbursement logistics after the manager asked whether the university or the state had a mechanism to reimburse the airport for repair costs. The chair and finance staff advised that the airport would pay and then record reimbursement through county finance, which would show as a reimbursement from the university or the state when processed.

The board did not take formal action at the meeting; staff were directed to order parts as recommended and to track costs for reimbursement.