Lawmakers say aircraft evacuations tests are unrealistic

Two lawmakers have proposed revised rules for aircraft evacuations.

Senators Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin want the FAA to rewrite evacuation standards.

They say the current evacuation drills don’t take into account real world conditions.

Airlines must evacuate passengers within 90 seconds but the agency doesn’t set seat size minimum standards. .

The Senators proposed the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) Act.

“It appalled me that it’s not a realistic simulation test. They are using groups of able-bodied people,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth said the FAA simulations only use 60 passengers.

“The current standards are not realistic and if we’re going to test than we need to have realistic parameters.”

The FAA is reviewing thousands of public comments about seat sizes after opening a public consultation.

The aircraft evacuations bill is backed by famed pilot ‘Sully’  Sullenberger.

“I have seen first-hand how challenging it can be,” Sullenberger said.

Several other senators recently called on the FAA to ban airlines from reducing seat sizes further.

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