ABSTRACT
In the design of any research in which the objective includes the evaluation of safety systems for use in an emergency a trade-off is required between the realism and the potential physical or mental risk to the participants. The main objective of the evacuation test programme was to investigate the influence of changes to the cabin configuration adjacent to the emergency exits, on the rate at which passengers could evacuate an aircraft. The video data and reports from volunteers indicated that the system of bonus payments successfully motivated volunteers to compete against each other in order to evacuate the aircraft. The video and questionnaire data from the evacuations have also provided an insight into the dynamics of behaviour within the cabin which have been reported in an actual emergency. A group of survivors from an aircraft accident which had involved smoke and fire, viewed the videos of the evacuations.
