New machine to help faster rescue of stranded passengers at airport

Evacuation vehicle can reach inaccessible areas that conventional systems can’t

High capacity: The escape stairs of the evacuation vehicle can handle the load of 115 passengers at one time.

A first-of-its-kind advanced passenger evacuation vehicle, with an acceleration of 0-80 km per hour in less than 40 seconds, will now help rescue stranded passengers from inaccessible areas of aircraft at the Mumbai airport.

The machine, acquired by the airport operator GVK, is equipped with an engine of 540 HP which provides it one of the fastest accelerations in this category.

The vehicle covers all types of aircraft currently used in the aviation industry, including the Airbus 380 — the biggest civilian aircraft available today.

A Mumbai International Airport Ltd spokesperson said, “This highly developed vehicle will be used for rescuing stranded personnel, wherein conventional alighting systems cannot be employed. In the unlikely event of an aircraft veering away from its normal path, this equipment can be rushed to the spot and the attached ladder can be extended up to aircraft door for passengers or crew to be safely evacuated.”

The airport, surrounded by slums, handles 40 million passengers and one million tons of cargo annually. On January 20, it created a world record for single-runway operations by handling 980 arrivals and take-offs in 24 hours, or almost one flight every minute.

Airport officials said the ladder in the advanced passenger evacuation vehicle can be extended as high as 8.3 metres. The escape stairs have a high evacuation load capacity of approximately 115 people at one time. The vehicle also has a high pressure smoke ventilation system which can remove smoke from the fuselage or cockpit and increase chances of survival.

“This machine can also reach off-road surfaces with a 6X6 wheel drive system on single wheel configuration,” the spokesperson said.

The induction of the vehicle is a requirement for post-accident evacuation passenger management that airports are expected to follow. “Fast evacuation is essential for survival in accidents involving fire. The target is to make it in under 90 seconds with the goal to enable all passengers to travel with maximum safety speed and efficiency from their seat in the aircraft to a safe area away from the immediate danger of the airframe,” an airport official said.

A GVK spokesperson said the acquisition was part of GVK MIAL’s efforts to make the airport one of the world’s best.