Airbus A380 - the biggest airliner soon to go into commercial service, undergo its evacuation test - March 26: Did it pass?


Even if you didn't have a fear of flying, would you take part in an emergency evacuation of a new airliner?


The world of commercial aviation witnessed an event on March 26, 2006 that doesn't coming along very often. Indeed, it only ever happens when a new commercial airliner is being primed to enter fare-carrying service in the near future, and even then it only happens once.

I'm talking of a full-scale emergency evacuation for the purpose of certifying how many passengers an aircraft about to enter service may legally carry.

I'm not sure when this type of testing first began, but certainly one of the most anticipated evacuation tests in recent memory concerned the new Airbus 380, due to enter service next year. Airbus management has expressed some reservations about how any less-than-perfect results might be exploited by its American competitors. Billions of dollars are at stake in fact!

It was anticipated not just because it is yet another new airliner, but because it is destined to be the only double-decker airliner around and it will hold the record for the most number of people certified to be carried legally in regular service.

I have to say though that in rescue missions, Boeing 747s have been known to carry in excess of 600 men, women and children on mercy dashes, and I'm thinking that exceeds the number certified in tests to be legally carried. On one occasion, after Cyclone Tracy devastated the northern Australian city of Darwin on Christmas Eve, 1974, a Boeing 747-200 of QANTAS (not even the larger 747-400) carried 673 mainly women and children, with two per seat the only way to get that number on board, away from the devastation in a combined effort with the Australian military.

Seventeen years later, the same model aircraft, a B747-200 was part of an Israeli effort to rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jews under threat during a civil war in that country. A fleet of Israeli military and commercial jets were part of a risky rescue effort, and on one occasion, with seats removed, more than a thousand Ethiopians were flown to Israel. In fact the flight landed with one more passenger than it left with due to a birth on board.

Of course, this was a special circumstance and the flight was not a regular fare-paying scheduled service, without luggage one presumes in the hold, but it still shows you the prodigious capacity of these aircraft.

Testing the emergency capabilities of a modern airliner is not without its risks. Usually the only people at risk initially are the pilots, then as more is learnt about the aircraft's abilities and other test crew are allowed on board for more advanced testing, the nature of the risks changes.

For the evacuation test to succeed, special arrangements must be in place. And usually it is too expensive to run the test a second time, so all must work according to a long-thought out plan the first time.

What the airline maker is trying to do is determine the maximum number of passenger the particular model may carry, even if it might undergo some changes later in its life. Should there be significant structural changes allowing many more passengers to be carried, such as going from the B747-200 to the B747-400 with its extended upper deck (EUD - first seen on the -300 model) then another test will need to be carried out.

So the maker configures the aircraft usually to a full economy seating arrangement. In the case of the Airbus 380, that amounts to 853 passengers, even though the first airlines to fly it will probably limit the total numbers initially to 550-600.

The test considerations are fairly straightforward, yet stringent to meet safety requirements. Only half the emergency doors are allowed to be used, the chutes can be opened before the test begins, the test is done in darkness (to test the floor lighting and to better simulate an emergency with power lost), and the clock has 90 seconds on it. Flight attendants stand at the doors to be used to hustle people down the chutes and others to get them away from the aircraft so that those who follow don't get bottle-necked atthe bottom of the chute.

Each participant, who wears a number visible to the infrared cameras on board to record what happens, is usually a local volunteer who is warned in advance that this isn't a fun event, and the chances of them being injured are not slim. Indeed, it is unusual in recent years if a volunteer isn't injured, and burns and abrasions from sliding down the chutes are common. Broken arms and legs have also been recorded, and occasionally worse still, such as spinal injuries.

In the case of the Boeing 777, one person balked at the doorway during its test (people entered the plan through covered jetways so they couldn't see where they were on the plane to better encourage them to look for exits when the time came to evacuate), and so it was certified with one less than its maximum which was hardly a commercial threat.

In the case of the Airbus 380, the extra concern was the great height from which the upper deck passengers (which for some airlines would be business and first class) would need to slide and whether some would have a height phobia or fear and baulk. To get 850 people out in 90 seconds means a little more than a person a second would need to evacuate through each emergency exit, so that two persons might need to jump out the door together. The slides are built to allow two to slide simultaneously.

In addition to the lights going out just prior to the evacuation drill, test certifiers litter the floor with bags and other on-board paraphernalia to better simulate the results of an emergency landing, which passengers need to step on or around with the lights out. There are usually some baby dolls about the cabin to simulate children! Also there are prescriptions for how many women vs men are on board, as well as ages: a high proportion must be over 50, and presumably a little slower than those under 50!

And of course, the flight attendants must also exist the aircraft, usually last.

How did the Airbus do in March 2006. Well, on its website, Airbus says it passed!

Here's is its Media release:

"The European Aviation and Safety Agency (EASA) and the American Federal Aviation Administration, FAA gave their "seal of approval" to the successful A380 evacuation trial performed at Airbus' site in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday, 26th March, during which 853 passengers and 20 crew members left the aircraft within 78 seconds. They herewith validated 853 as the maximum passenger seating capacity, for the A380-800.

As per regulation, the evacuation test was performed in complete darkness through only half of the 16 exits of the A380. The exits that had been selected by the Authorities to be operative were not known to any of the passengers and crew before the test.

"This is an exceptional result and a remarkable success for Airbus. We have passed a major milestone on the road to Certification." said Airbus COO and Head of A380 programme Charles Champion. "I would like to thank all participants, the crew and all teams who worked for months on this exercise. They did a fantastic job."

The evacuation test was the most stringent ever performed and the first ever on a double-deck passenger aircraft. The aircraft was fitted with the highest possible density cabin layout. In addition there were two flight crew members and 18 cabin crews from Lufthansa on board to manage the evacuation in a representative way."


To see the building of the Airbus in 7 minutes (!) you can go to the following site here.

Posted: Sunday - April 02, 2006 at 01:56 PM         |

©