Duckworth Demands Answers from FAA Amid Troubling Series of Commercial Aircraft Runway Fires and Emergency Evacuations
After authoring the provision in the FAA Reauthorization Law requiring an updated emergency evacuation standard, the Senator pressed the FAA on implementation
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Amid a series of commercial aircraft emergency evacuations, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation—is demanding detailed answers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding the age and abilities of the passengers on board, whether passengers had carry-ons while exiting the aircraft and how long each of these evacuations took. In the letter, Duckworth asks the FAA to produce a study the agency was required to complete in May under a provision she secured in the landmark bipartisan FAA reauthorization law last year to ensure the FAA considers improvements to the agency’s current 90-second emergency evacuation standard that reflect the reality of flying today. Specifically, her provision directed the FAA to study improvements to the safety and efficiency of evacuation standards including real-world conditions like the presence of carry-on bags and passengers who may be senior citizens, children or persons with disabilities. Duckworth is requesting detailed responses from the FAA by August 12, 2025.
In today’s letter, Duckworth wrote: “While FAA has yet to disclose how long any of the referenced passenger evacuations took, these incidents once again raise serious questions about FAA’s 90 second evacuation standard as well as FAA’s assumptions about how evacuations occur in real world conditions (such as the assumption every passenger will comply with instructions to deplane without carry-on bags).”
Following up on the implementation of her EVAC Act provision in the FAA reauthorization law, Duckworth requested “a copy of FAA’s study on improvements to evacuation standards that the law required FAA conduct by May 16, 2025.”
Duckworth’s letter to the FAA follows a recent aircraft evacuation at Denver International Airport where footage showed passengers deplaning with their carry-on luggage, with one passenger reporting the process took 10 to 15 minutes. A similar evacuation occurred at Orlando International Airport in April, which followed an especially harrowing situation at the same Denver airport in March where passengers were forced to stand on a wing enveloped in hazardous smoke to escape a fire.
Currently, the FAA’s emergency evacuation standards require that passengers—regardless of age or ability—be able to evacuate aircraft within 90 seconds, but recent in-person simulation testing failed to adequately take into account whether a flight is full or mostly empty, or other basic conditions Americans deal with every time they fly. A U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General watchdog report from 2020 determined that FAA “has not conducted sufficient research on passenger behaviors” since last updating its evacuation standards, and earlier this year, a peer review by the National Academies found that FAA used an unrealistic simulation to assess aircraft evacuation safety.
Duckworth’s EVAC Act, which was included in a modified form in the bipartisan FAA reauthorization law, requires modernization and improvements to aircraft evacuation standards by requiring the FAA to conduct a comprehensive study on aircraft evacuation and empanel a committee of experts and stakeholders—including representatives of the disability community, senior citizens and pediatricians—to evaluate gaps in current evacuations standards and operating procedures and make recommendations.
Full text of the letter is available below and on Senator Duckworth’s website:
Dear Administrator Bedford:
On July 26, 2025, we witnessed the latest in a series of emergency aircraft evacuations when a fire on an American Airlines 737 MAX 8 on a Denver runway required 173 passengers and 6 crew members to exit the aircraft using slides. Video showed passengers exiting with carry-on bags and, according to at least one passenger, the process took 10 to 15 minutes—the latter estimate exceeding FAA’s 90 second evacuation standard by 10 times.
This incident followed an evacuation of a Delta A330 on an Orlando tarmac on April 21, 2025, due to an engine fire , and an even more harrowing March 13, 2025, evacuation of an American Airlines 737-800 in Denver, where passengers were forced to stand on a wing, enveloped in hazardous smoke, to escape a fire. As one passenger later stated, “Smoke started to fill the cabin, and people started screaming and pushing and jumping and yelling.” Fortunately, for all three incidents, professional and highly trained flight crews were able to guide all passengers to safety with minimal injuries.
While FAA has yet to disclose how long any of the referenced passenger evacuations took, these incidents once again raise serious questions about FAA’s 90 second evacuation standard as well as FAA’s assumptions about how evacuations occur in real world conditions (such as the assumption every passenger will comply with instructions to deplane without carry-on bags).
Section 365 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 requires FAA to examine evacuation standards to ensure they consider realistic circumstances including the presence of carry-on bags. It also requires FAA to account for the challenges posed by evacuating a representative sample of passengers, which often include seniors, children and individuals with disabilities—including passengers who require wheelchairs or other mobility assistive devices.
Congress had good reason to require FAA to carefully examine its evacuation standards given the agency’s recent track record. In 2020, a U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General report, FAA’s Process for Updating Its Aircraft Evacuation Standards Lacks Data Collection and Analysis on Current Evacuation Risks, concluded:
“FAA largely updates evacuation standards only after accidents and it conducted its last update based on an accident in 1991. FAA also has not conducted sufficient research on passenger behaviors—such as evacuations with carry-on bags and the presence of emotional support animals—and seat dimensions to show how they affect evacuation standards [emphasis added].”
Further, when Congress acted in 2018 to require FAA determine a minimum seat size and space for safety, FAA commissioned an unrealistic in-person simulation at its Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) consisting of only able-bodied individuals under age 60. The National Academies conducted a peer review of FAA’s work and criticized a key CAMI finding:
“…the key conclusion in CAMI’s report that current airplane seating configurations should not impede the evacuation of 99% of the general U.S. population is not supported by the design and results of the research project [emphasis added].”
As Congress continues oversight of FAA’s evacuation standards, I request FAA provide detailed responses to the following by August 12, 2025:
- For each evacuation (July 26, 2025, April 21, 2025 and March 13, 2025):
- How long did it take to evacuate all passengers and crew (provide exact times)?
- How many passengers exited with carry-on bags?
- How many passengers were children?
- How many passengers were seniors?
- How many passengers were individuals with disabilities? Please include a detailed breakdown of the types of mobility issues, specific assistive technology or medical devices that such individuals were able to evacuate with or were forced to leave behind.
- A status update on FAA’s implementation of Section 365 of the FAA Reauthorization Act. Please include a copy of FAA’s study on improvements to evacuation standards that the law required FAA conduct by May 16, 2025.
Sincerely,
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