A new study has proposed that elderly passengers should be seated separately on flights to improve evacuation times in emergencies. Researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Calgary used computer simulations to model evacuations on an Airbus A320, finding that the placement and number of passengers over 60 significantly affected how quickly everyone could exit.
Published in the journal AIP Advances, the study conducted 27 simulations based on a dual-engine fire scenario. The quickest configuration, with 30 elderly passengers spread uniformly among 152 total passengers, still took 141 seconds to evacuate—exceeding the 90-second standard. The slowest arrangement, with a higher number of randomly placed elderly passengers, required 218.5 seconds.
The researchers recommend distributing older travellers with mobility limitations across different cabin sections, which would require family members or couples to sit apart from elderly relatives. They also suggest targeted safety briefings for older passengers to further reduce evacuation times.
Dr Chenyang Zhang, a co-author, stated: 'We hope these findings help airlines proactively mitigate risks. By understanding how passenger distribution affects evacuation, airlines could potentially implement more strategic seating arrangements to optimise safety without compromising operational efficiency.'
