The Airliner Cabin Environment Air Quality and Safety (1986) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-12
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Although such devices and procedures are usually taken for granted, Congressional hearings during 1983-1984 revealed that information on airliner cabin air quality was contradictory. Flight attendants and others testified about inadequate ventilation and other problems with the cabin environment that caused discomfort.
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· Cabin environment: health effects of reduced pressure and of cosmic radiation. · -Emergency procedures: control of fires and toxic fumes, use of emergency breathing equipment, and adequacy of emergency instruction given passengers.
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These rates compare with a ventilation rate of 5-7 cfm/person established for other types of vehicular travel that have nonsmoking sections, including passenger and commuter trains and subways. It should be noted, however, that these other ventilation standards do not consider possible synergistic effects of the low relative humidity encountered in aircraft.
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HUMIDITY In addition to carbon dioxide, relative humidity in the cabin at flight altitude is predictable, depending only on cabin ventilation rate, passenger load factor, temperature, and pressure. With a range of standard cabin ventilation rates, the relative humidity varied from 23% to less than 2Z.
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Therefore, the Committee suggests that FAA carry out a carefully designed program to ensure that cabin ozone concentrations comply with Department of Transportation regulations. ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE A contaminant in aircraft cabins that can be detected by its characteristic odor and visibility is environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)
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Any solution requiring structural or engineering changes -- such as markedly increasing ventilation, moving lavatories and galleys, and separating smoking compartments with physical barriers -- appears economically infeasible. Increasing ventilation of the smoking zone to the point where it is in compliance with ASHRAE guidelines and eliminating recirculation on existing aircraft does not appear technically feasible.
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The Committee also recommends that maximal airflow be used with full passenger complements to decrease the potential for microbial exposure and that recirculated air be filtered (to remove particles larder than 2-3 ~m] to reduce microbial aerosol concentrations.
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The effects of reduced flow, recirculation, and filter efficiency were analyzed. Cabin smoke from various onboard cabin fire scenarios can be evaluated with models of this type to develop optimal procedures for control of smoke under emergency conditions.
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The Committee also investigated fire test procedures for cabin materials, firefighting techniques, and emergency breathing equipment for cabin crews. As any air traveler can observe, many passengers ignore or pay little attention to passenger safety briefings, in spite of the fact that retention of the information presented can mean the difference between
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Although FAA standards are met by currently available materials, other materials exist that, with further development, would far exceed current standards and would provide substantially increased fire protection in aircraft. The Committee noted that current emergency Procedures for smoke removal recommend that the cabin be denressurized to 10,000 ft.
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The Committee therefore recommends that FAA establish a program for the systematic measurement, by unbiased independent Groups, of the concentrations of carbon monoxide, respirable suspended ~articles, microbial aerosols, and ozone and the measurement of actual ventilation rates, cabin Pressures, and cosmic radiation on a representative sample of routine commercial flights' These findings should be subjected to Deer review.
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The Committee recommends that FAA establish a program to monitor selected health effects on airliner crews. Air carriers are required to report to FAA all uses of the recently mandated medical kits during the first 24 months.
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