Availability of Passenger Safety Information for Improved Survival in Aircraft Accidents

摘要

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has set goals to be proactive regarding airline passenger education. One of the strategic goals is to identify, develop, and conduct research to improve methods, procedures, and technologies for increasing survival in aircraft accidents. In support of the FAA goals, this study identified safety- and survival-related information currently available to the flying public, providing an opportunity for estimating the general educational level of the typical air traveler. The information available to typical airline passengers was obtained through a survey of air-travel information resources, including all material available from 15 major and 25 minor airlines flying in U.S. airspace. Additional sources were found using an exhaustive search of Internet Web sites, books, periodicals, and journal articles of government agencies, aviation training programs, educational and academic sources, aircraft manufacturers, consultants, U.S. military, corporations, and non-profit companies. An array of important factors was investigated: travel preparation, prohibited goods, in-flight 'things-to-know,' medical information, safety concerns, emergency aircraft operations, emergency procedures, post-emergency survival-related topics, airport requirements, and international travel information. The results reveal serious inadequacies in the availability of safety information for airline passengers, indicating that reaching the goal of assured air traveler safety and survival in emergencies is problematic but amenable to significant improvement. To increase the probability that air travelers will survive in emergencies, substantially improved safety and survival information needs to be implemented and made available through a well-constructed passenger education program.