Elderly people should be split up on flights to speed up emergency evacuations, according to a new study.
Experts have warned that the growing number of older passengers ‘poses new challenges’ for airline safety.
Under UK and international regulations, aircraft must be designed to allow a full emergency evacuation within 90 seconds.
But modelling shows that even during the fastest simulations, the presence of elderly passengers can have a significant impact on evacuation time.
The study authors suggest that older people with limited dexterity should be evenly distributed among aircraft cabins.
And it could mean splitting up your grandparents during family getaways.
‘Higher elderly ratios and poor seating arrangements led to longer evacuation times and uneven exit usage,’ the team wrote in the journal AIP Advances.
‘These findings emphasize the need for age–sensitive modelling and seating strategies to improve evacuation safety.’
A visualisation of the cabin model the researchers used to simulate evacuation scenarios, where the use of the overwing exits would not be possible due to a dual–engine fire
In the top left scenario, where there were less elderly passengers and they were evenly distributed near the exits, the evacuation took 141 seconds. However in the bottom right scenario, with a high proportion of elderly passengers randomly distributed throughout the cabin, evacuation took 218.5 seconds
For the study, which involved researchers from the Universities of Sydney and Calgary, the team simulated 27 different evacuation scenarios in the event of a dual–engine fire on an Airbus A320.
This is one of the most common narrow–body aircrafts in the world, typically seating between 140 and 170 passengers.
They compared three different cabin layouts with varying ratios and distributions of passengers over the age of 60.
‘While a dual–engine fire scenario is statistically rare, it falls under the broader category of dual–engine failures and critical emergencies in aviation,’ researcher Chenyang Zhang said.
‘History has shown that dual–engine failures and emergencies, such as the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” involving Captain Sullenberger, can happen and lead to severe consequences.
‘Our study focuses on these low–probability but high–impact events to ensure the highest safety standards.’
The team used evacuation modelling software to simulate passenger behaviour.
Analysis revealed that the proportion and location of elderly passengers had the largest effect on evacuation time.
While airplane crashes or failures are rare, they do happen. Pictured: The famous ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ crash which involved an Airbus A320
They found the fastest option – a layout that accommodates a total of 152 passengers with 30 elderly passengers evenly distributed throughout the cabin – still required 141 seconds for everyone to evacuate.
Meanwhile the slowest option, which involved more elderly passengers who were randomly distributed, resulted in an evacuation time of 218.5 seconds.
Previous studies have shown that cognitive decline in elderly populations can affect situational awareness and delay decision making.
Meanwhile reduced dexterity can be exacerbated during high–stress situations.
The researchers hope that incorporating this information into their findings — for example, by offering additional safety briefings to elderly passengers — will help further accelerate the deboarding process.
The team said children, infants and pregnant women also introduce ‘unique physical capabilities and behaviours’ during an evacuation process – something which they hope to explore in the future.
‘We hope these findings help airlines proactively mitigate risks,’ Dr Zhang said.
‘By understanding how passenger distribution affects evacuation, airlines could potentially implement more strategic seating arrangements to optimize safety without compromising operational efficiency.’
