Smoke and Fire Events a Hot Topic at BASS 2026

During a session on smoke and fire issues at the 2026 Flight Safety Foundation Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS), panelists highlighted concerns about the growing number of hazardous events and how pilots can mitigate hazards and land safely after the cockpit fills with smoke.

Coincidentally, a few days after the session (“Navigating Smoke, Fire, Fumes, and Lithium Battery Risks in Aviation”), the NTSB released three safety recommendations for realistic, scenario-based training to prepare pilots for smoke-in-cockpit emergencies.

The panelists at the BASS session included David Wroth, senior director, technology and operations at Underwriters Laboratories Standards and Engagement; Nate Klatt, CEO of Klatt Works; and Jim Zanino, head of sales for VisionSafe. Lisa Sasse, founder and chairman of FlightStart Solutions, moderated the panel session.

The NTSB’s recommendations resulted from the Dec. 20, 2023 Southwest Airlines Flight 554 engine bird-ingestion incident, which filled the cockpit with smoke. Although the pilots were able to don oxygen masks and safely land at the departure airport, they were surprised by the deterioration of visibility that occurred within seconds and said this was “far more challenging than anything they had experienced in training,” according to the NTSB. “If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

Now, the FAA is receiving near-daily reports of emergencies involving smoke in the cockpit, the NTSB noted, but “passenger airlines are not currently required to conduct realistic smoke-in-cockpit simulation training. Existing training often consists only of verbal discussion of a smoke event rather than immersive simulation involving reduced visibility or elevated workload.” Because existing recurrent training standards don’t sufficiently prepare pilots for smoke emergencies, “The NTSB recommended that the FAA work with industry to develop standardized, realistic smoke-in-cockpit simulation training for pilots and incorporate that training into its guidance for overseeing airline training programs.”

During the BASS session, moderator Sasse pointed out, “These events are no longer isolated concerns. They are increasing in frequency and complexity across both commercial and business aviation environments.” In 2024, cockpit smoke events in Part 121 air carrier airplanes reached a high of 1,052. Contributing to the urgency is the potential for thermal runaway of lithium batteries in devices carried aboard by pilots and passengers. “One of the most dangerous outcomes of thermal runaway is the potential for smoke and fire creating a time-critical emergency that can rapidly escalate beyond traditional crew response capability,” she said.

Many aircraft are equipped with so-called thermal blanket-type sleeves that are supposed to keep a lithium fire contained, but Sasse raised a question about their effectiveness. Underwriters Laboratories has studied many aspects of lithium battery fires, and in this particular case, Underwriters Laboratories’ David Wroth explained, “Testing shows that those are combustible gases that collect underneath those fire blankets. That is a new risk that you’re entering into, and firefighters are trained to deal with that. But as a consumer device or consumer-mitigation technique, be very careful.”

While lithium battery fires are a major concern and are growing, they aren’t the largest cause of cockpit smoke. “When you look at the common causes of smoke in the cockpit,” said Klatt Works CEO Nate Klatt, “the number-one risk of smoke, fire, and fumes is from electrical fires.”

Klatt’s company manufactures the Smoke-Assured Vision Enhanced Display (SAVED), an oxygen mask with embedded augmented reality glasses that helps pilots view critical flight information when smoke obscures cockpit instruments and avionics. SAVED is certified in the Boeing 777F and Gulfstream G550, and additional approvals are underway.

Oxygen masks don’t help with seeing through smoke, but the SAVED mask gives pilots the ability to see the output from the aircraft’s head-up display (HUD); thus, they can continue to fly the aircraft when the cockpit is filled with smoke. In simulator testing with the SAVED mask, pilots were intuitively able to don the mask and land safely. “We had half a dozen pilots in a simulator, and none of them had any simulator training on our system,” he said. Although none of the pilots had flown the type of airplane being simulated, “It was intuitive enough where they could all pick it up and land on their first attempt. When you’re emulating the existing systems like the HUD, which [are] in your aircraft already, and you’re still seeing that same display, then it makes it much, much easier.”

VisionSafe head of sales Jim Zanino asked the pilots in the audience if they regularly train for smoke in the cockpit, and about a third of the pilots raised their hands. He explained that mitigating the risk of smoke in the cockpit involves the design of the aircraft, crew training and expertise, and a mitigation technique. With all three, he added, “it’s nice and stable, and nothing’s generally going to happen.” Even with only two, most of the time, pilots can deal with the situation and land. But lacking those, the level of risk climbs.

While aircraft are designed to be able to ventilate smoke, this usually requires depressurizing. If the smoke happens at 45,000 feet, the pilots need to descend to a safe altitude before depressurizing, all while dealing with obscuring smoke. “You can’t just push it over and get down there instantly,” Zanino explained. “It does take a good five to 10 minutes from the higher altitudes down to an altitude to depressurize. So during that time you’re dealing with the smoke in the cockpit, you have to find a way to clear it.”

VisionSafe’s Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS) is certified on a variety of commercial and business aircraft and has been used in several cockpit smoke incidents. EVAS is a self-contained, clear, inflatable plastic bubble that fills the space between the instrument panel and the pilot. With its own battery, EVAS doesn’t rely on the aircraft’s electrical system, which may be compromised in a fire. When the pilot deploys EVAS, he or she can see the critical flight instruments by pressing his or her face onto the EVAS surface; inside the inflated EVAS, the air remains clear, thus providing an uncompromised view of the panel. Pilots can see through EVAS while wearing an oxygen mask as well.

At the BASS event, Zanino demonstrated EVAS in a small cockpit-sized booth with simulated smoke obscuring the instrument panel. “We can put you in a blinding situation,” he said. “Having some sort of visual reference to continue to fly the airplane to safely [land] is critical in these events.”

As part of the demonstration, Zanino showed pilots how they can use the EVAS to read checklists or even their electronic flight bag tablet computers. The inflated EVAS has a side pocket that accommodates a checklist or tablet, putting them in a place where they aren’t obscured by smoke and can be seen clearly.

Many new business jets are equipped with EVAS as standard equipment, and the simulators that replicate these jets are similarly equipped, so pilots can train on EVAS with smoke in the simulator cockpit. But whether or not their airplanes are equipped with any kind of lifesaving device, Zanino emphasized the importance of training for smoke events. “Sign up for that training,” he urged. “Experience those emergencies. Working through your checklist gives you a lot more confidence when it happens in real life.”