Jul
26
After browsing YouTube today in search for a good video to create a discussion about, I think I have found one.
Each aircraft has to go through a series of tests in order for the government to approve the airplane design. One of the tests is an evacuation of all the people on board the aircraft. The test specifies that everyone has to be evacuated within 90 seconds. This test was done on the Airbus A380 back in March of 2006. There were 873 people on board, and they evacuated everyone in 77 seconds! From the Airbus news release,
“There was one passenger suffering a broken leg and few minor injuries. We will support them in every way we can,” said Airbus COO and Head of A380 programme Charles Champion.
The evacuation looks like a controlled chaos to me. If this was a real emergency, do you think all these people would cooperate just as well as the passengers in the video? Take a look and see for yourself!
Honestly I don’t think this would happen on a real situation. Everyone on this evacuation test was prepared to get out of the plane. Under real circumstances people would panic and there is no telling how the situation would be.
Ive see this test - looks fast! I didnt watch the video as ive seen it if its with some germans running it - It would be fun to be a part of it.
Where are the little kiddos that never cooperate for anything organized? Also, where’s the little old lady that every plane has that refuses to leave without her “thangs”, as she diggs her claws into her seat with dear life??
They do, however, say in the video that independent observers were present on board to confirm the test went according to regulations. The people’s behaviour must have been alright, and, I guess, the same as for every other bird’s evacuation.
I agree with previous commenter. Looks fast, but in a panic situation it might be different.
I remember seeing a tv program where they said that this was always a problem, that people just dont act in these tests like they would in the real situation. And one of the solutions was to offer cash rewards for the first X off the plane, and apparently the resulting chaos is much more representative of how people act when trying to get off in a real emergency. Still doesnt solve the preparedness problem though - everyone is prepared to get off the plane.