Mumbai Airport Introduce Emergency Passenger Evacuation Vehicles!

In a bid to increase passenger safety in case of an aircraft accident, Mumbai Airport will soon introduce advanced ‘Emergency Passenger Evacuation Vehicles’.

These vehicles will be used to rescue stranded travellers from inaccessible areas of the aircraft. The vehicle covers all types of aircraft currently used in the aviation industry, including the A380, which is the biggest civilian aircraft available today.

According to Mumbai International Airport Limited(MIAL), these vehicles can be deployed where other conventional alighting systems, which are used to help people get off the airplane in an emergency situation, fail.

Here’s how these vehicles work:

• In case the aircraft steers away from its normal path on the runway or in case of accidents, this vehicle can be rushed to the spot and the attached ladder can be extended up to the aircraft door for passengers & crew to be safely evacuated.
• This ladder can be extended up to a maximum height of 8.3 meters or 27 feet.
• The escape stairs have a high evacuation load capacity of approximately 115 people at one time.
• This machine is equipped with a 540 HP engine, with an acceleration of 0-80 km per hour in less than 40 seconds.
• The vehicle is fitted with a high-pressure smoke ventilation system, which can remove smoke from the fuselage/ cockpit and increase the chances of surviving.
• This machine can also reach off-road surfaces with its 6X6 wheel drive system.

Fast evacuation is essential for survival in accidents involving fire. These vehicles will help evacuate passengers from the aircraft under 90 seconds.

The goal of these vehicles is to carry passengers from their seat in the aircraft to a safe area with speed and efficiency.

The induction of these vehicles is part of MIAL’s effort to make Mumbai Airport one of the best in the world.