Airlines: New Super Plane One Step Closer to Takeoff

March 26, 2006 — -- Airbus successfully evacuated 853 people acting as passengers from its super-jumbo A380, the biggest passenger plane ever built. The test was a critical milestone in the process of certifying the plane as safe to begin commercial service.

Airbus declared it a "great success" even though one man broke a leg and 32 others suffered minor injuries sliding down evacuation chutes.

The test was conducted in a darkened hangar at an Airbus test facility in Hamburg, Germany. Eighteen flight attendants from Lufthansa, an airline which has ordered the A380, managed the evacuation.

The Federal Aviation Administration and safety organizations from other countries require than an aircraft manufacturer show any new plane can be evacuated in 90 seconds before it will be certified to enter service. Airbus said the complete evacuation took just 80 seconds even though half of the double-decker plane's 16 exits were blocked to simulate crash conditions.

The evacuation test was the first ever tried with the A380 and involved the most passengers ever in such a test. That it was successful the first time came as a something of a surprise to airline executives and journalists who cover the industry.

"We were very happy with this result" said Charles Champion, chief operating officer for Airbus, in a bit of understatement.

While 853 people were loaded aboard the plane for the test, no airline that has ordered the A380 plans to carry that many. Singapore Airlines, which will be the first to put the plane in regular service, will carry about 500 passengers, in a three-class (economy, business and first) configuration.

Just how the huge plane will be configured by its customers, however, is a secret.

Emirates, which will be the second carrier to fly the plane, may carry as many as 650 passengers on regional routes in the Middle East and in South Asia. Others, like Lufthansa, Air France, Virgin Atlantic and Quantas have been mum on their plans.