Sunday, March 26, 2006
Airbus A380 evacuates 873 in 80 seconds
Airbus carried out an emergency evacuation of its new double decker A380 aircraft today. The test was carried out in a pitch black hangar in Hamburg. Only 8 of the 16 exits were used and the 18 Lufthansa flight crew who were in charge of the evacuation were not told beforehand which ones would be closed. Reportedly the 853 volunteers and 18 aircrew were evacuated in 80 seconds, 10 seconds less than the target 90 seconds. The emergency procedure was filmed using infra red cameras and will be analysed before test can be confirmed as a success or otrherwise. It appears that there were some minor injuries and one broken leg. This Bloomberg Article gives more information
It must have been like some sort of adventure park ride to jump on a slide from the top deck of an A380 in a totally dark hangar.
It must have been like some sort of adventure park ride to jump on a slide from the top deck of an A380 in a totally dark hangar.