Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-81/7
Title and Subtitle: Emergency cabin lighting installations: An analysis of ceiling- vs. lower cabin-mounted lighting during evacuation trials
Report Date: February 1981
Authors: Chesterfield BP, Rasmussen PG, Dillon RD
Abstract: Six series of human subject evacuation tests were conducted to compare the evacuation rates with two different emergency lighting systems in an aircraft cabin filled with nontoxic white smoke. Cabin emergency lighting and exit signs mounted near the ceiling were almost completely obscured by smoke, which layered most heavily in the upper one-half of the cabin.
A comparison lighting system mounted below layered smoke in aisle seat armrests, with exit signs mounted at and below the cabin midpoint, provided light directly in the aisle and cross aisle. Results indicated that lights and signs mounted lower in the cabin were more readily visible in smoke and enabled subjects to evacuate from a smoke-filled cabin more rapidly than conventional ceiling-mounted lights and signs.
Key Words: Lighting, Exit signs, Smoke stratification, Vision in smoke, Aviation safety, Postcrash fire, Aircraft accident
No. of Pages: 40
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-81/7
Title and Subtitle: Emergency cabin lighting installations: An analysis of ceiling- vs. lower cabin-mounted lighting during evacuation trials
Report Date: February 1981
Authors: Chesterfield BP, Rasmussen PG, Dillon RD
Abstract: Six series of human subject evacuation tests were conducted to compare the evacuation rates with two different emergency lighting systems in an aircraft cabin filled with nontoxic white smoke. Cabin emergency lighting and exit signs mounted near the ceiling were almost completely obscured by smoke, which layered most heavily in the upper one-half of the cabin.
A comparison lighting system mounted below layered smoke in aisle seat armrests, with exit signs mounted at and below the cabin midpoint, provided light directly in the aisle and cross aisle. Results indicated that lights and signs mounted lower in the cabin were more readily visible in smoke and enabled subjects to evacuate from a smoke-filled cabin more rapidly than conventional ceiling-mounted lights and signs.
Key Words: Lighting, Exit signs, Smoke stratification, Vision in smoke, Aviation safety, Postcrash fire, Aircraft accident
No. of Pages: 40
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012