Airbus is reportedly trying to change the rules on evacuation trials of its new A380 plane before it makes its inaugural test flight.
According to a report in The Times, before the aircraft can become operational in 2006, Airbus needs to demonstrate that it can evacuate the jet within 90 seconds – with half of the exit doors blocked to simulate a fire.
The newspaper states that Airbus wants to change the rules by allowing evacuation slides from the upper deck to be deployed before passengers are told to leave the plane.
Airbus says this is to reduce the risk of injuries during the trial, which will take place in Germany this autumn, but doing so would also knock some 10 seconds off the evacuation process and also reduce the risk of technical failures – studies have suggested that slides do not work in one third of evacuations.
The Times quotes aviation experts as saying that any trial would be rendered invalid if carried out under different rules.
Tim Snyder, a member of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s occupation focus group, is quoted as saying: “When you start tinkering with the testing standards, where do you draw the line? When I fly on a plane I want to know that it has been rigorously tested to prove everyone can get out in a minute and a half, even allowing for the possibility of some slides failing to deploy.”
An Airbus spokesman is quoted as saying that the company is trying to “balance the need for a realistic test with the desire not to injure people during the trial”.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
