U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., requested that the Federal Aviation Administration provide detailed information on several recent commercial aircraft evacuations. In a letter dated Aug. 5 to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, Duckworth asked for information regarding the exact duration of each evacuation, the number of passengers who exited with carry-on bags and the age and ability profiles of those on board. Duckworth seeks a response by Aug. 12.
Duckworth told CBS News that “the FAA needs an evacuation standard that reflects the reality of flying today” and said “the American people deserve to know whether the FAA is taking this responsibility seriously and complying with the law.”
She also requested the study the agency was required to complete by May 16 under her provision in last year’s FAA Reauthorization Act, which directed a review of the 90-second evacuation standard under real-world conditions.
The letter follows three incidents now under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. On July 26, American Airlines Flight 3023, a 737 Max 8 carrying 173 passengers and six crew members, experienced a landing-gear issue at Denver International Airport; video showed flames and passengers using slides while flames trailed the gear.
On April 21, a Delta A330 evacuated on the Orlando ramp after an engine fire. And on March 13, an American Airlines 737-800 at Denver’s gate was evacuated after an engine fire, with passengers standing on the wing to escape smoke.
Perhaps its time for a penalty for those who take the time to grab bags before thevmake an emergency exit. Although i might have some leniency for the parents that grabbed a diaper bag along with their child as long as it wasnt in an overhead bin.
Perhaps a period on the “no fly” list would have some effect. However (hopefully) most of the miscreants are tourons that might not plan a flight again for years, so it wouldn’t have a real effect on other tourons.
I fervently hope that business flyers are not guilty of grabbing their brief cases on the way out.
I flew for a major airline for 35 years, and I never had to conduct an evacuation. That said, I also resigned myself to the fact that if I ever did evacuate, there would be injuries. The rules about not bringing carryons with you in the evacuation procedure are there for good reasons. Those rules don’t need to be changed; they need to be enforced.
It’s about time this got a harder look. The certification standard is for the full aircraft to be evacuated in 90 seconds using half of the available exits. They test this using people who are relatively fit, unincumbered, well-rehearsed, and in a low-stress situation. There’s no way this standard is achievable with the average fitness, ability, and mindset of the flying public.
As tenuous as timely evacuation is given the above, I firmly support enforcement action against anyone found to have taken luggage during an evacuation.
Your concluding statement is great; but you need to check the guidance in FAA Order 8900.1. The evacuees used are to be naive and average “street folk”. There may be no rehearsal or other preparation of the demonstration evacuees.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Duckworth needs a serious reality check.
The issue here is a senator’s misunderstanding of a certification requirement. Each requirement is designed to assure a safe aircraft. Such as a 1/5 x maxim load for aa wing. The max load is determined for a normal category plane with there max G w max load that x 1.5. This is to assure the wing will survive the max g loading with a given fact of safety which will account for minor damage in use, non perfect fabrication and the like. the exit criterea is to assure the aircraft can be evacuated in a reasonable time with a reasonable restriction. this does NOT mean every evacuation will be done in. 90 seconds. Juts that it can be done in such a time that is is reasonable to assume passenger safety. NOW the real way to determine in this is a satisfactory requirement would be to look at the record of evacuation and determine if a vast majority of the passengers got out of the plane safely. The goal of the requirement is to fulfill that goal. NOT a 90 second time. AS for passengers taking bags that is a crew responsibility. I would believe the only way to get every one off a loaded 787 while grabbing thier carry ones would be to use a series of explosive bolts an such and a tow rig to blow the darn thing apart and drag the shell out of the runway.
Taken with a grain of salt from a non pilot! Air disasters are at least 10 times the potential problem of ground problems. One almost always can run away from a ground problem. One just dies in any air collision. Who will set the Senator strait on the realities for air transport?