Safety Topics

A technical presentation by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators held recently at British Airways featured papers on a number of subjects connected with emergency evacuation and a demonstration making use of a Boeing 757 cabin training mock‐up. Given on behalf of E J Trimble of the AIB, ‘Aircraft passenger survival in fire gave a detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding the fatalities in the Manchester 737 accident in 1985. Some 83% of those who died perished as a result of having been incapacitated by the effects of toxic gas/smoke inhalation, thereby eliminating any chance of their escaping from the aircraft. One passenger was dragged out of the starboard overwing exit at about 5.5 minutes after the aircraft stopped, having some injuries, but being released from hospital after a week. Another passenger was released after 33 minutes but he later died from his injuries.