FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
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AVIATION MEDICINE REPORTS

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-99/30

Title and Subtitle: Frequency and Costs of Transport Airplane Precautionary Emergency Evacuations

Report Date: December 1999

Authors: Hynes, M.K.

Abstract: Precautionary emergency evacuations that occurred during the period of 1988 through 1996 were evaluated. Primary data sources included the FAA, NTSB, and NASA, as well as the records of airport managers. Additional data were collected from airlines, insurance adjusting firms, and litigation records.The results revealed that precautionary emergency evacuations occurred about 58 times per year, and involved an average of 4,759 people per year. In about 18 percent of the incidents, aircraft emergency escape systems were deployed without being reported to the FAA, and approximately 80 percent of such incidents were not reported to the NTSB.

The direct costs related to injuries, administrative overhead, and equipment maintenance associated with precautionary emergency evacuations were estimated to be over $11 million per year, indicating that (a) enhanced incident information management systems and (b) research targeted to minimize precautionary emergency evacuations and improve emergency evacuation outcomes are needed.

Key Words: Emergency Egress, Evacuation, Airline Operations, Passenger Injuries, Economic Loss, Airline Economics

No. of Pages: 30