Abstract: EVAC Computer Simulation of Personnel Performance in Airplane Evacuation

Objectives for the EVAC computer model are to simulate emergency evacuation from aircraft and thus to reduce or replace the practice of conducting live tests with a full passenger load, now required to demonstrate that emergency evacuation from a new airplane configuration meets regulatory criteria. Plans are to develop a model that demonstrates evacuation performance fidelity and credibility to the degree determined to be necessary for acceptance as a valid evacuation “test” method. This is being accomplished by developing a literal step-by-step simulation of the evacuation process. Resulting model performance elements are based on a time-line of evacuation performance events and queuing behavior similarly to task timeline analysis techniques. Features include ability to handle basic variables in the sequence of task events and also to modify performance time according to characteristics that may be individualized (e.g., age, sex, agressiveness) or related to features of the environment or systems (e.g., lights, obstacles, door size, number of slide lanes). Reported are present model features, performance capabilities and level of calibration.