Fleeing The Whalejet
When faced with questions surrounding the need for a megasized
airliner like its upcoming A380, Airbus's answer has essentially
boiled down to that classic line from "Field of Dreams": If you
build it, they will come.
But will they be able to leave? Especially when it matters
most?
That's a question that has loomed over the A380 since its
inception... and it's about to be put to the test. Using 853
handpicked volunteer "passengers" from among Airbus staff -- as
well as members of a local gym -- Airbus will conduct its first
full-scale emergency evacuation test of the double-decker
superjumbo on March 26.
The goal of the test is to show that those passengers -- as well
as 18 cabin crew attendants and two pilots -- will be able to
safely flee the A380 during a simulated emergency. To pass the
test, at least 750 occupants have to be evacuated in 90
seconds.
What's more, they'll need to do it with only half of the A380's
exits functioning per level (Airbus won't determine which
doors will be inoperable until 48 hours prior to the test --
and even then, those onboard won't know beforehand). Also, everyone
onboard will be in the dark -- with only a bare minimum of safety
lighting available.
The passenger load will also represent a cross-section of the
typical passenger demographic: 35 percent of the volunteers are
over the age of 50, at least 40 percent are female and 15 percent
of those women must be over 50, as well.
The Wall Street Journal reports that to better simulate actual
emergency conditions, soft baggage will be strewn throughout the
cabin during the evacuation. And while the escape slides will be
pre-deployed for safety reasons, all the doors will be closed
beforehand -- adding precious seconds to any evacuation
attempt.
The volunteers will also enter the simulation airframe through a
dark tunnel, so they won't be able to see where the bags and
doors are located... nor will they be able to see beforehand which
slides have been deployed.
In order to meet FAA and EASA certification requirements, Airbus
must demonstrate the ability to safely offload over 750 passengers.
Airbus itself has set a target of 853 (sorry, flight and cabin
crews). To date, the highest capacity A380 on order is equipped to
seat 650 passengers.
Should the evacuation
test be unsuccessful for any reason -- if significantly fewer
passengers are able to be evacuated than planned, for example, or
if one of the volunteers suffers an injury during the attempt --
Airbus is prepared to repeat it one week later, using a fresh batch
of volunteers.
"If it is below 650 we will definitely have to do it again. But
we are confident of it being above 750," said A380 safety director
Francis Guimera.
Sixteen observers from the FAA and EASA will be watching the
test, through 40 infrared cameras inside and outside of the
aircraft.
If the evacuation drill sounds like an mammoth task... well, it
is. Since the start of the A380 program, Airbus has had its share
of detractors who say that it's impossible to evacuate so many
people, and do it safely, in so little time.
The European consortium can take comfort, though, in the
knowledge many people said the same thing back in 1969,
concerning the biggest airliner of that time: the Boeing
747. Whatever happened to that plane, anyway?