Fleeing The Whalejet

When faced with questions surrounding the need for a megasized airliner like its upcoming A380, Airbus's answer has essentially boiled down to that classic line from "Field of Dreams": If you build it, they will come.

But will they be able to leave? Especially when it matters most?

That's a question that has loomed over the A380 since its inception... and it's about to be put to the test. Using 853 handpicked volunteer "passengers" from among Airbus staff -- as well as members of a local gym -- Airbus will conduct its first full-scale emergency evacuation test of the double-decker superjumbo on March 26.

The goal of the test is to show that those passengers -- as well as 18 cabin crew attendants and two pilots -- will be able to safely flee the A380 during a simulated emergency. To pass the test, at least 750 occupants have to be evacuated in 90 seconds.

What's more, they'll need to do it with only half of the A380's exits functioning per level (Airbus won't determine which doors will be inoperable until 48 hours prior to the test -- and even then, those onboard won't know beforehand). Also, everyone onboard will be in the dark -- with only a bare minimum of safety lighting available.

The passenger load will also represent a cross-section of the typical passenger demographic: 35 percent of the volunteers are over the age of 50, at least 40 percent are female and 15 percent of those women must be over 50, as well.

The Wall Street Journal reports that to better simulate actual emergency conditions, soft baggage will be strewn throughout the cabin during the evacuation. And while the escape slides will be pre-deployed for safety reasons, all the doors will be closed beforehand -- adding precious seconds to any evacuation attempt.

The volunteers will also enter the simulation airframe through a dark tunnel, so they won't be able to see where the bags and doors are located... nor will they be able to see beforehand which slides have been deployed.

In order to meet FAA and EASA certification requirements, Airbus must demonstrate the ability to safely offload over 750 passengers. Airbus itself has set a target of 853 (sorry, flight and cabin crews). To date, the highest capacity A380 on order is equipped to seat 650 passengers.

Should the evacuation test be unsuccessful for any reason -- if significantly fewer passengers are able to be evacuated than planned, for example, or if one of the volunteers suffers an injury during the attempt -- Airbus is prepared to repeat it one week later, using a fresh batch of volunteers.

"If it is below 650 we will definitely have to do it again. But we are confident of it being above 750," said A380 safety director Francis Guimera.

Sixteen observers from the FAA and EASA will be watching the test, through 40 infrared cameras inside and outside of the aircraft.

If the evacuation drill sounds like an mammoth task... well, it is. Since the start of the A380 program, Airbus has had its share of detractors who say that it's impossible to evacuate so many people, and do it safely, in so little time.

The European consortium can take comfort, though, in the knowledge many people said the same thing back in 1969, concerning the biggest airliner of that time: the Boeing 747. Whatever happened to that plane, anyway?

FMI: www.airbus.com