Identification and Comprehension of Symbolic Exit Signs for Small Transport-Category Airplanes

Details

• Creators:
  Weed, David B. ; Paskoff, Lawrence N. ; Ruppel, David J. ; Corbett, Cynthia L. ; McLean, Garnet A.
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Airplanes Comprehension Emergency Exits International Travel Language Signs Small Aircraft Symbols
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AM-14/3
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Office of Aerospace Medicine
• Abstract:
  Global growth in travel has resulted in the need to standardize safety information and guidance systems
  
  for communication of significant information to the widest audience possible. Through uniform design and
  
  common visual components, persons in all countries can betterrecognize and follow directional information
  
  for safe passage, particularly in emergency situations.
  
  In order to communicate guidance information efficiently across language barriers, graphical signs and
  
  symbolic markings have come to incorporate a range of fairly standard visual components, such as exit signs
  
  that include arrows and the international running man symbol. A symbolic emergency exit sign has been
  
  approved for placement on a single, large transport-category airplane type in place of the signs currently
  
  required by 14 CFR 25.811 and 25.812. Use of a similar symbolic exit sign has been proposed for
  
  deployment on a small transport airplane. This sign would be smaller and use variations of the approved
  
  symbols.
  
  This study evaluated the smaller symbolic exit sign, comparing it with the approved sign in combination
  
  with variations of individual sign elements. Overall, there was little difference in the identification of either
  
  the approved or proposed running man element, although participants were better able to identify the type of
  
  arrow element currently approved for the larger transport airplanes.
  
  The main recommendations from this study are that future symbolic exit signs on transport-category
  
  airplanes be standardized and spaced within the cabin to provide the visual size needed for proper
  
  identification and comprehension.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e56569e4be97d77d45568d277a42ab4937809fd4c654d175f8856d123cef3d4619711cafb04eab6df3b73c91118dbbcec311e4fe4bb0bde036d945d78dc6fa4
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27201/dot_27201_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1011.12 KB ]