Safety Topics: Emergency Evacuations Available to Purchase

COMMISSIONED by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Cranfield Institute of Technology has reported on a programme of research into passenger behaviour in aircraft emergencies. The main objective was to investigate the influence of changes to the cabin configuration involving access to the emergency exists, on the rate at which passengers could evacuate in aircraft. At the initiation of the programme the CAA indicated that information was required relating to: the influence of increasing the width of the passageway through the floor to ceiling bulkhead leading to floor level Type I exits, on the time taken for passengers to evacuate the aircraft; and, the extent to which an increased distance between the seat rows adjacent to the overwing exit, or the removal of the outboard seat beside the overwing exit, would improve the rate at which passengers could pass through the exit in an emergency.