Production Airbus A340-600s will after all incorporate a pair of Type III overwing emergency exit hatches in addition to the design's standard eight Type A passenger doors. The move comes despite efforts by Airbus to obtain exemption from certification regulations.
The consortium had hoped to eliminate the hatches required under European Joint Aviation Authorities and US Federal Aviation Administration rules, which specify a maximum distance of "60ft" (18m) between adjacent passenger exits. Without the hatches, doors two and three on the stretched A340 would be 74ft apart.
The first A340-600 prototype has been rolled off the production line without the hatches but Airbus has until now refused to say whether subsequent production models would include the change.
Airbus A340-500/600 product manager Alan Pardoe says though a "long-term debate is continuing" over the exit requirements, "it is clear that all currently ordered and in-build -600s will have the [additional] exits". The prototype -600 will be retained by the manufacturer as a testbed and will not enter airline service.
Airbus argues that not including the smaller overwing hatches would, in fact, improve safety as they could be liable to blockage during an emergency evacuation. Eliminating them would also save 500kg (1,100lbs), provide room for an extra row of seats and reduce production costs by enabling the centre-fuselage design of the -600 and the shorter, longer-range -500 model to be standardised.
JAA certification director Koos van der Spek says the agency is working towards certification of the A340-600 with the hatches included but adds: "If in future there is a rule change I would not be surprised if there was a proposal from Airbus."
In 1999 the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters strongly urged the FAA to resist, on safety grounds, an approach by Airbus over the exit change proposals. The two unions suggested that their members may even refuse to fly on the aircraft if the exits were not included.
The "60ft" rule was introduced by the FAA and JAA after some European and Asian airlines decided to block off the overwing exits on their Boeing 747s to make room for more seats.
Source: Flight International
