As he walked through the halls of the Rayburn House office building in Washington, Dr. Ronald Brown was feeling a nervous rush of adrenaline. “I was only nervous because you don’t know what the agenda is,” he says. Brown, a physician, was invited to testify in April before the House Aviation Sub-Committee, chaired by Florida Rep. John Mica. The agenda? Stop the infiltration of disease carried into the United States via international air travel.In the past three years, the world has seen a new threat to the health of international passengers and the countries they visit. The most infamous event to date: China’s SARS epidemic. The SARS outbreak triggered a staggering economic landslide. Some estimates suggest that flights to China declined 45 percent. Far more frightening was the rapid spread of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 16 of the earliest second-generation cases were actually traced back to four commercial airline flights.

That was Dr. Ron Brown’s motivation. As the former medical director of Seminole County Emergency Medical Services from 1988 to 2000, in charge of 650 paramedics and EMTs and at the forefront of public-health issues and first-response measures, Brown is acutely aware of the potential devastation of the spread of certain diseases. “What we worry about are the influenzas, the SARS, the smallpox,” he says. “If you haven’t been vaccinated, there is no antibiotic that works [against it], and that’s what we’re trying to stop.”  To that end, Brown has been quietly testing a new system that will essentially decontaminate planes. He calls it the Aeroclave.

The Aeroclave system uses super-heated air at temperatures that will kill known viruses anywhere in the cabin. “We don’t say we ‘sterilize’ the plane” with the Aeroclave, says Brown. “We say we ‘decontaminate’ the plane from pandemic causes, primarily the viral organisms.” In short, the Aeroclave kills viruses in the aircraft to prevent their spread worldwide.

During the past five months, Brown and the Aeroclave team have played host to local officials such as Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, national officials and legislators—Rep. Mica was on the February guest list—and Pentagon officials. The Republican chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee was so impressed with the test results that he wanted the FAA to hear from Brown, the company’s founding manager, in person.

Aeroclave meets the FAA

On April 6th, Brown brought his blueprint for the Aeroclave project to Capitol Hill. Four private citizens were invited to participate in the sub-committee hearing, but Brown was the only one with hard scientific data.

Brown’s presentation, entitled “Efforts to Prevent Pandemics by Air Travel,” was a success on the Hill—and Aeroclave is now the newest member of the FAA’s Airline Cabin Environmental Research Team.

Brown’s own team has been testing the Aeroclave on the grounds of Orlando International Airport since 2003. Using a DC-9, the system—essentially a giant generator—delivers red-hot air through what looks like massive dryer-vent hoses. Wireless sensors monitor temperatures inside the plane, and once the entire cabin reaches the intended    temperature, the cool-down process begins. The Aeroclave’s results to date have created a whirlwind of interest from several countries, including Australia and (most recently) the UK, as well as the U.S.

The FAA is preparing to put the Aeroclave through its paces. “Within the next 30 days, the FAA will begin   efficacy tests,” says Brown. Much of the testing will be   conducted just beyond Gate E-15 at OIA, home of the   DC-9 whose test results point to potential elimination of viral infections in aircraft. Brown says the U.S. military will conduct testing “in concert” with the FAA, which has assembled several organizations to join the research     team. Harvard, Purdue, UC-Berkeley and Boeing will also participate in the Aeroclave studies.

Good for Florida, good for the world

According to Brown, this is exactly what the FAA was looking for. “We’ve shaved two years off of their time table.” If the results of the upcoming tests meet the FAA’s standards, Aeroclave could put central Florida on the international stage as the world headquarters for aircraft decontamination . . . as it helps stop the worldwide spread of disease.      S

Mike Holfeld is an investigative reporter for WKMG-TV Local 6 News.