Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-97/20

Title and Subtitle: Use of Object-Oriented Programming to Simulate Human Behavior in Emergency Evacuation of an Aircraft's Passenger Cabin

Report Date: August 1997

Authors: Court, M.C., and Marcus, J.H.

Abstract: Progress in the development of a computerized aircraft cabin evacuation model is described. The model has a two-fold purpose (i) to supplement current certification tests that use human subjects, and (ii) to serve in the investigation of aircraft accidents as a reconstruction tool and identify factors influencing survival of passengers. For the model to be a valid predictive tool when simulating aircraft accidents, the toxic and debilitating effects on passenger behavior of fire and smoke must be modeled. Other aircraft cabin evacuation models use an expert system/rule-based approach to simulate these effects.

The work described here presents an object-oriented approach to modeling human behavior in aircraft cabin evacuations. Object-oriented programming (OOP) lends itself to the modeling of complex systems. OOP's foundation is modularity. OOP allows a one-to-one correspondence with the physical world, and thus, eases the burden of model validation. Validation is critical to the successful use of a model as a predictive tool and involves testing to ensure that the model accurately reflects the behavior of a real system. Easing model validation is of particular importance since the real system's environment is hazardous, and performing any tests on the real system is either impossible or not repeatable. The result of this work will help to expand the simulation's capabilities in improved passenger queuing analysis by allowing the incorporation of human behavior into class objects.

Key Words: Evacuation Model; Cabin Safety; Object-Oriented Programming; Human Behavior

No. of Pages: 11