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, requiring the FAA to publish new, more realistic aircraft evacuation standards for commercial planes.
The bill mandates future FAA evacuation simulations include diverse passenger demographics (varying ages, physical abilities) and account for carry-on bags.
Current FAA regulations require full aircraft evacuation in 90 seconds or less, but critics argue the existing simulations are unrealistic as they primarily use able-bodied participants.
This legislative push is a response to ongoing public and congressional concerns regarding aircraft safety, partly stemming from a previous FAA study on minimum seat sizes and their impact on emergency evacuations.

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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.