Federal regulators say all airline passengers must be able to evacuate a plane within 90 seconds. The FAA reauthorization bill would require the agency to reconsider its testing standards.

If an airplane has to be evacuated, the Federal Aviation Administration says all passengers must be capable of getting outwithin 90 seconds.

But critics say the agency’s testing standards have not kept pace with the shrinking size of airplane seats — which means more people jammed into the cabin — or the changing composition of the flying public.

“This is ridiculous. This is not how we travel today,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in an interview.

Duckworth argues the FAA’s current tests fail to take real world conditions into consideration.

“They did not mimic the seat density of a modern aircraft. They had no carry-on baggage. They had nobody over the age of 60 and nobody under the age of 18,” said Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in the Iraq war.

“They didn’t have anybody with a disability. Of course they were able to evacuate the aircraft in 90 seconds,” she said.

  • Ashyr@sh.itjust.works
    51·
    6 months ago

    Imagine if they forced planes to have reasonable seats again! I’d love to be able to sit without my knees jammed in the seat in front of me.

    I’m not even that tall. My father-in-law literally can’t fit in a regular seat due to his height.

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
      17·
      6 months ago

      Bad news is us tall guys get bruised knees from the seats. Good news is we get to watch everything everyone is doing on the screens in front of us. I watched like ten movies at once on the last flight I was on.