Rising Number of Senior Passengers Could Affect the 90-Second Emergency Evacuation Standard

A new study revealed that the increase in senior air passengers could affect the safety of other passengers on board. This raises concerns about whether airlines can meet the required 90-second emergency evacuation mandate.

The average life expectancy in the US is now nearly 80 years. In addition, at least 70% of people aged 50 and above prioritize travel in the post–COVID era. 

Given the growing number of elderly passengers, experts recommend distributing them throughout the aircraft to ensure everyone’s safety.

90-Second Evacuation

In an emergency, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires airlines to evacuate the aircraft within 90 seconds. However, given the increase in senior passengers, experts believe that evacuation times could significantly increase.

A group of international researchers conducted 27 simulated evacuation scenarios on an Airbus A320 involving a dual-engine fire.

The researchers used three different cabin layouts with varying ratios and distributions of passengers aged 60 and above. The study was published in AIP Advances, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Institute of Physics.

While dual-engine fire emergencies are uncommon in commercial aircraft, study co-author Chenyang Zhang, Ph.D., of the University of Calgary, warned that “History has shown that dual-engine failures and emergencies such as the famous ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ involving Captain [Chesley] Sullenberger, can happen and lead to severe consequences.”

The results of the study showed that both the number of elderly passengers and their seating locations had the greatest impact on evacuation time.

Mitigating Risks

The study found that the fastest evacuation time was 141 seconds for 152 passengers. In this setup, there were two rows of first-class seats at the front. The 30 elderly passengers were evenly seated throughout the cabin.

The study said, “When elderly passengers are unevenly distributed and concentrated in certain areas of the aircraft, their reduced mobility may lead to localized congestion and obstruct the movement of other evacuees.”

In addition to mobility and cognitive issues, vision and hearing problems also contribute to evacuation delays.

The study stated, “Elderly passengers introduce specific challenges in emergency evacuations due to slower reaction times, reduced physical mobility and a higher likelihood of requiring assistance.”

Zhang said, “By understanding how passenger distribution affects evacuation, airlines could potentially implement more strategic seating arrangements to optimize safety without compromising operational efficiency.”