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by WalterBright 2161 days ago
> You can throw a match into Jet-A and it won’t catch fire.

Yeah, well, we all know jet fuel burns very well and that's why it's so useful. Fire is the worst crisis on an airliner.

2 comments

No he's right, Jet-A has plenty of energy but it's not very volatile so unless you've got a very large hot fire it will not sustain itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL10C7FSbE

It takes a spray nozzle atomizing it for him to actually meaningfully burn it with a blowtorch.

Because fire consumes oxygen (which you have an enormous supply of) that people need to breathe as well as the airframe/wings you need to stay in the air and the landing gear you need to safely get back on the ground.

Not because of jet fuel.