Study Finds Older Passengers Can Push Jet Evacuations Beyond FAA 90‑Second Standard

An international research team has published a peer‑reviewed study in AIP Advances showing that higher numbers of older passengers and where they sit in the cabin can significantly slow emergency evacuations on common Airbus A320 jets beyond the Federal Aviation Administration’s 90‑second safety benchmark. Using full‑scale CAD models of the A320 and Pathfinder evacuation‑modeling software, the scientists ran 27 dual‑engine‑fire scenarios with different cabin layouts, proportions of travelers over 60 and seating distributions. Even in the fastest scenario they tested—an A320 with 152 passengers and 30 elderly travelers evenly spread through the cabin—the model showed it took 141 seconds for everyone to reach the ground, more than 50 seconds over the FAA limit. The authors say age‑related cognitive decline, slower reaction times and reduced mobility can create bottlenecks, especially when older passengers are clustered, and argue that real‑world demographics are shifting faster than current evacuation assumptions. Their findings raise questions for U.S. regulators and airlines about how evacuation tests are designed, how seating and assistance policies treat older Americans, and whether the 90‑second rule is being realistically met as the flying population ages.