SIMULATORS
“There’s a considerable risk factor
whenever you ask the general
public to do an evacuation”
MARCH 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
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add all those other variables it’s not telling us that seat
pitch and width are the problem, it’s telling us that those
other variables are the problem.
“So, we need to collect this data with healthy and
mobile people, before we start adding in other variables.
We could simulate children and disabled people with test
dummies. However, before we do something like that we
really need to get this baseline done.”
CUTTING THE WIRES
Asked whether a test result that showed a clear
correlation between shrinking seat dimensions and
evacuation times would lead to further studies
incorporating these other demographics Weed says it is
“entirely possible”. But critics of the study say that
passenger demographics are not the only factor that
needs to be accounted for if the tests are to be truly
reflective of how a real-life evacuation would play out in
today’s environment.
The same FAA reauthorization bill that mandated the
CAMI tests also instructed the US Department of
Transport’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct a
comprehensive audit of the FAA’s testing standards for
evacuations. The standards have not changed in more
than 20 years.
John Breyault, vice-president of public policy,
telecommunications and fraud at the National
Consumers League (NCL), a US-based consumer rights
group, believes that this review should have concluded
before the CAMI tests started, so that any changes to the
testing standards recommended by the OIG could have
been looked at by the subsequent study. According to
Breyault, included in the updates should be a recognition
of how changes in commercial flights in recent years
coupled with behavioral factors would undoubtedly
impact evacuations.
“Any updates should accurately reflect
the amount of carry-on baggage that
passengers are bringing on with them
because of the imposition of check-in fees
by the airlines,” says Breyault. “They also
need to account for the increase of the
number of emotional support animals on
flights and seating policies that separate
parents from children. In an evacuation
these parents will want to unite with
their children before leaving the plane.”
In addition to this the impact of the increased usage
of electronic devices when travelling should also be
considered, adds Breyault: “They need to account for the
presence of wires and cables plugged into AC adapters
and USB ports. Passengers may also try and film
themselves evacuating.”
BELONGINGS GRAB
Another behavioral quirk that may be factored in is the
likelihood that some passengers will try to grab their
luggage before exiting.
This likelihood has been noted both in studies and in
real life. A 2018 survey of British travelers by the Royal
Aeronautical Society revealed that 35% would try to
retrieve their possessions during an emergency
evacuation even if they were in immediate danger.
In 2015 a number of passengers were criticized after
photos appeared on social media showing them with
their carry-on luggage after evacuating a British Airways
plane that had burst in to flames on the tarmac at Las
Vegas airport.
Whether these extra variables will find their way
into future evacuation tests depends both on the results
of November’s Oklahoma testing and the will of the FAA
and other regulatory bodies around the world to
investigate the matter further. Garcia believes that
consumer rights groups’ concerns that a result showing
no correlation between seat size, pitch and egress times
will be used by airlines to justify further shrinkage are
misplaced. “I don’t think there’s any real appetite for this
among airlines,” she says.
“When airlines add seats they’re adding weight to the
aircraft and extra capacity that they are now obliged to
sell. So, there’s always a balance to be struck that will
stop airlines going too far.” \\
4 // The FlexSim cabin
simulator used by the FAA
was made by Oklahoma
based Newton Design,
which also supplies cabin
simulators to airlines for
training purposes
4
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