More than 26,000 comments poured in when the FAA asked the public last year whether it should regulate a minimum seat size in the name of evacuation and safety. “Based on this study’s results, currently flying seat pitches using seats of similar size or smaller than those used in this project can accommodate and not impede egress for 99% of the American population,” the report said. The FAA explained to CNN at the time that the 2019 tests were to “first decide if it’s a safety issue,” and the findings concluded common seat sizes were not an obstacle to evacuation. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants labor union, told Congress that “flight attendants are left to manage the frustrations of passengers jammed into ever-shrinking space.” And some say a modern, crowded cabin could not be fully evacuated within 90 seconds, the FAA’s standard. Flyers Rights, a non-profit organization, unsuccessfully pushed the FAA to regulate a minimum seat size, citing among other issues concerns about blood clotting due to tight quarters. The tests and standard seat sizes were criticized by passenger and safety advocates. The FAA declined to comment on the matter. “Obviously, the FAA simply chose to ignore the reality of flying in America today,” Duckworth said. The mock cabins used 60 “passengers” – far fewer than in most commercial jets – between the ages of 18 and 60 but did not include senior citizens, people with mobility disabilities or carry-on luggage. Her criticism refers to aircraft evacuation testing the FAA conducted in 2019.
“I think most Americans would say, ‘Well, yeah, don’t they already do that?’” “You say ‘Hey, do you think the FAA – when they conduct a test – should simulate the actual people that are in the aircraft?’” Duckworth said to reporters on a conference call. Airline passengers sit during a American Airlines flight operated by SkyWest Airlines from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California to Denver, Colorado on April 19, 2022.
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