DOT Report: Economy Seats Are Basically Death Traps
Jennifer Billock September 18, 2017
An investigation confirms what we already knew—that economy class seating is a death trap for passengers.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to review a petition filed by activist group Flyers Rights in order to create new rules about seat sizes and cabin space on airplanes. Since then, The Daily Beast has reviewed more than 900 pages from Department of Transportation documents that appear to confirm what we already mostly knew: that coach seating is a recipe for disaster for passengers.
In all the documents The Daily Beast reviewed, they discovered that the FAA has been using evacuation tests that are decades old and don’t account for the newer, more compact arrangement inside many aircraft. Two tests are done on planes. The first checks to see if an airplane can successfully be evacuated in 90 seconds (the planes are filled with volunteers for this), and the other uses dummies to test seat design and other cabin parts in the event of a crash.
But the tests themselves are not an actual representation of what would happen during a crash. Firstly, everyone involved is fully aware of what’s happening, what to expect, and what they should do. That does not replicate the panic one would feel in a real-life situation. The planes are also tested inside a hangar, so the variations that might appear (like smoke in the cabin or bad turbulence) during a crash don’t exist. The tests, though, are carried out with use of only half the exit doors and in poor light.
In economy class, the tests are even less valid. Newer aircraft have smaller and closer together seats, which almost certainly means that, based on measurements alone, most coach passengers can’t assume the brace position and would likely suffer traumatic head and neck injuries in a crash.
Sad to say the FAA is a dunsel in a Star Trek world. Has never been a leader, has to be pushed and kicked to act. Even then they move like a glacier. It has been well known the aircraft evacuation tests are not truly real world. More like a party for the participants. In the news how many passengers disobeyed the flight crew's instructions, brought out their carry on bags during real emergency evacuations, video on the news. FAA, Feds did nothing, basically saying this is ok. Should have fined the people for failing to follow instructions. Agree it will take a real disaster with loss of life and Feds sent to jail before something is done.
Certainly the government could mandate more separation between seats for quicker evacuation. The problem is that this would push up ticket prices to such an extent that many people would choose to drive instead of fly, and the number of lives saved by quicker evacuations of airplanes would almost certainly be outweighed by the greater number of people killed in car crashes. Always consider unintended consequences.
someone in the DOT & FAA will be cut a blank check to lose this files.. what investigation?
Re: CPH-Flyer Asiana at SFO, Emirates at DXB, BA at LAS. All very recent examples that did not leave the economy class passengers stuck anywhere. While the tests are all theoretical, has there been a real life example to show that this theoretical review by the FAA has any more merit? I don’t think so, so far the opposite. ............................... If Emergency Evacuation standards are using out of date or invalid data then how can current cabins with tighter and tighter seat pitches be validated and approved? At a minimum the airlines should have to conduct these tests for each cabin configuration they want to fly.
Asiana at SFO, Emirates at DXB, BA at LAS. All very recent examples that did not leave the economy class passengers stuck anywhere. While the tests are all theoretical, has there been a real life example to show that this theoretical review by the FAA has any more merit? I don't think so, so far the opposite.