Impact of baggage collection behaviour on aircraft evacuation

TL;DR

This study quantifies how baggage collection behavior during aircraft evacuations delays egress, using validated simulations on a Boeing 777 to assess impact and explore mitigation strategies.

Contribution

It provides the first validated simulation analysis of baggage collection effects on aircraft evacuation times and suggests a framework for future mitigation research.

Findings

Baggage collection significantly delays evacuation even at low levels.

Validated simulation confirms impact of baggage behavior on evacuation time.

Framework proposed for investigating mitigation tactics.

Abstract

Recent reports of emergency aircraft evacuations have highlighted an increasing tendency amongst evacuees to ignore clear safety warnings and to collect and carry personal items of baggage during egress. However, relatively little work has so far been done on quantifying the impact of such behaviour on the evacuation process. In this paper, we report the results of validated simulation experiments (using the Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft), which confirm that even a relatively low level of baggage collection can significantly delay evacuation. Our platform provides one possible framework for the investigation of processes and mitigation tactics to minimise the impact of baggage collection behaviour in future.