Standing outside the Hyatt Regency Wichita hotel, about two dozen business jet operators took turns practicing how to fight a fire should one break out during flight.

"The fire is going to take a direction," trainer Brian Hayvaz told the pilots. "You have to be smart."

In-flight fire training is new at this year's Bombardier Aerospace Safety Standdown. The event officially begins Wednesday. Optional sessions began Monday and continue today.

The event, called the "War on Error," is a free safety seminar for corporate aircraft operators. More than 430 people, primarily pilots, registered to attend. One hundred and nineteen additional names were on a waiting list.

The seminar is open to operators of all business aircraft, regardless of the manufacturer. About half of the attendees do not fly Bombardier aircraft, said Bob Agostino, director of Bombardier Business Aircraft flight operations, who is in charge of the event.

Most airplane accidents involve some type of pilot or crew error or human failure, Agostino said. The program is designed to reduce the errors.

Among the seminar's offerings are medical and emergency training and education about fatigue countermeasures and aviation psychology.

A fire on an aircraft is a potential risk, said Hayvaz, with Air Care International, a company that specializes in emergency training for corporate and charter flight crews.

With all the electronics, lights, avionics and entertainment systems, planes have miles of wiring running through them.

"These types of fires are difficult to fight," Hayvaz said.

Using a button, Hayvaz could start and extinguish the fire contained in a special receptacle outside the Hyatt.

Each pilot took a turn wielding a fire extinguisher. It was a little trickier than it looked.

For one thing, the first instinct is to wrestle with the pin on the extinguisher to try to pull it off. The easiest way to remove it is to twist it off, Hayvaz said.

They also have to judge where and how far back to stand.

"Get down low and sweep and sweep and sweep" with the extinguisher's spray, he told them.

Attendees on Monday also saw how hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, can affect their ability to make decisions and how to recognize the symptoms.

Volunteers were hooked up to masks that reduced the amount of oxygen they breathed. They were asked simple math questions before and during the experiment.

After a short time without proper oxygen, one volunteer simply scribbled on the test. Another said she felt like she had downed a couple of beers.

Without enough oxygen, the ability to multitask is gone.

"You can't fly an aircraft like that," Hayvaz said.

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