The latest winner of the Royal Aeronautical Society's BWO Townshend Award, Boeing engineer Jim Hutton, is a man who can open doors easily... and in future, so will airline passengers.
Hutton won the award for his role in leading the design and development of a new automatic over-wing exit door that can be opened more rapidly in case of an emergency on the ground. The new door is standard on Next Generation 737s. Operation of the automatic over-wing exit is fully intuitive. Upon opening, it automatically opens outward and swings up, out of the way of passengers. The new design allowed Boeing to achieve certification from the Joint Aviation Authority for maximum passenger capacities for the Next-Generation 737.
The BWO Townshend Award is presented by the society to individuals for their work on a paper or device contributing to escape and survival from an aircraft and search and rescue at sea.
Hutton currently serves as project manager for the team developing the 737-700C, a freighter version of the Next-Generation 737.
Source: Flight Daily News
