According to CNN, after the collision between a Japan Airlines passenger plane and a Japanese Coast Guard plane, many people questioned whether a similar incident happened elsewhere, 379 passengers died. Can guests evacuate safely?
CNN: If it happened in the US, the results would be different
In the collision between a Japan Airlines plane and a Japan Coast Guard plane at Haneda International Airport, Tokyo on January 2, 379 people, including 8 young children, were evacuated. The passenger plane was safe before the vehicle burst into a fireball and was completely burned.
From this incident, referring to reality in the US, CNN news agency asked the question if a similar case happened in the US, would passengers be able to quickly escape the narrow, smoke-filled and chaotic airplane cabin? like that or not?
In the case of the Japan Airlines plane, a passenger said “most people were quite calm”, sitting in their seats waiting for the door to open. Another passenger said the evacuation process took about 5 minutes and no passengers were observed leaving their seats.
Mr. Miles O’Brien – US aviation analyst said: “It was these passengers who saved themselves by leaving their seats sequentially, not trying to take their hand luggage with them when sliding down the slide.” Escape”.
Another expert, Mr. David Soucie, said: “If a similar case happened in the US, it could lead to a very different result because many passengers may want to bring personal belongings, laptops, phones, etc. ., affecting the ability to evacuate all passengers and crew members from the aircraft safely.”
Tight seats and narrow spaces hinder evacuation
In addition, CNN news agency quoted experts pointing out other issues that the US aviation industry needs to pay attention to to ensure safety in case of an incident such as seat size, limited leg space, Some cabin designs hinder the evacuation of passengers.
Ms. Sara Nelson, President of the labor union of the American Association of Flight Attendants, said that standards for evacuating passengers from aircraft in the US have not been updated in the past 7 decades. Besides, many passengers do not really pay attention when following flight attendants’ safety instructions before the flight.
According to US federal regulations, before being put into use, new aircraft models must go through an evacuation test process with the participation of real people pretending to be passengers, which must have all the necessary elements. such as female passengers, people over 50 years old, dolls that simulate children under two years old.
Mr. Soucie – a former FAA investigator – confirmed that the FAA’s evacuation tests were quite strict, to the point that some participating volunteers were injured.
In addition, the FAA also often learns from real-life incidents at home and abroad such as the plane crash in Japan to improve safety.
In 2018, the US Congress asked the FAA to investigate whether changes in passenger demographics, seat size, leg space, and aisle width on aircraft would affect the screening process. evacuate passengers from the plane or not.
By 2022, the FAA will issue a report confirming that current aircraft using seats that are the same size or smaller than the seats used in the FAA’s study can help passengers sit comfortably and not affect the travel process. movement of 99% of the US population.
However, according to CNN, many experts point out that the latest FAA inspections do not match the current reality of aircraft cabins in the US.
Illinois State Senator Tammy Duckworth said that the American people will be very surprised to learn that the latest inspections by the FAA are completely different from reality.
Ms. Duckworth said that the plane collision on the runway in Japan is a warning bell that the FAA needs to issue evacuation standards in emergencies, taking into account real-life situations such as the presence of aircraft. children, the elderly, disabled passengers, hand luggage to improve aviation safety.