Senators Call Part 121 Aircraft Evacuation Standards ‘Unrealistic’

The Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) bill would compel the FAA to simulate more realistic scenarios, including passengers across a wider age range and physical abilities, and with carry-ons.

Michael Wildes

Thursday, December 08, 2022 at 04:07 PM ET

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Current rules say airlines must be able to evacuate passengers within 90 seconds. [Courtesy: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

U.S. lawmakers introduced the "EVAC" bill, compelling the FAA to publish new, more realistic aircraft evacuation standards for Part 121 commercial airplanes.
The proposed bill aims to update current FAA evacuation simulations to include a wider range of passengers (varying ages, physical abilities) and carry-on bags, as existing tests are criticized for using only able-bodied individuals.
This legislative push addresses concerns that the FAA's current 90-second evacuation standard is based on unrealistic scenarios and needs to account for modern challenges like shrinking seat sizes.

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U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would require the FAA to publish new aircraft evacuation standards for Part 121 commercial aircraft, Reuters reported.

Senators Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin co-sponsored the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) bill that would require future FAA evacuation simulations to include more realistic scenarios, including passengers across a wider age range and physical abilities, and with carry-on bags.