United States Department of Transportation
i
The Effects of Wearing Passenger Protective Breathing Equipment on Evacuation Times through Type III and Type IV Emergency Aircraft Exits in Clear Air and Smoke
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1989-11-01
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[PDF-1.21 MB]
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Abstract:The effects of Passenger Protective Breathing Equipment (PPBE) on the time required for simulated emergency evacuations through Type III and Type IV overwing aircraft exits were studied in two quasi-independent experiments, one in clear air and another in smoke. Two different types of PPBE, the Dupont PELS and the Sabre Industries Sabre, were used in both experiments.
Eight groups of 20 subjects participated in each experiment; each group of subjects evacuated with/without PPBE. The order of PPBE presentation condition was counterbalanced to allow analysis of evacuation experience, i.e., learning. The results obtained supported the conclusion that exit hatch opening size was the most important factor in determining the time required to evacuate through these exits, followed next by the effects of smoke, and finally by the wearing of PPBE.
It was further concluded that because the PPBE effects were isolated to the time required to cross the exit hatch opening, the effects of PPBE were actually dependent on exit hatch opening size. The effects of smoke were seen to result from the necessity of using tactile information to control egress in the impoverished visual environment afforded subjects. These results were discussed in relation to passenger ergonomics and aircraft design.
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