II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5235 

To require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish evacuation 

standards for transport category airplanes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2022 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish 

evacuation standards for transport category airplanes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Vacating 

5 of Aircraft Cabin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EVACUATION STANDARDS FOR TRANSPORT CAT7 EGORY AIRPLANES. 

8 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 18 months after 

9 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 

10 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a final 


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1 rule establishing evacuation standards for transport cat2 egory airplanes, as described in part 25 of title 14, Code 

3 of Federal Regulations. 

4 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In issuing the final rule 

6 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall con7 sider factors that include— 

8 (A) the ability of passengers of different 

9 ages (including infants, children, and senior 

10 citizens) to safely and efficiently evacuate a 

11 transport category airplane; 

12 (B) the ability of passengers of different 

13 heights and weights to safely and efficiently 

14 evacuate a transport category airplane; 

15 (C) the ability of passengers with disabil16 ities to safely and efficiently evacuate a trans17 port category airplane; 

18 (D) the ability of passengers who cannot 

19 speak, have difficulty speaking, use synthetic 

20 speech, or are non-vocal or non-verbal to safely 

21 and efficiently evacuate a transport category 

22 airplane; 

23 (E) the ability of passengers who do not 

24 speak English to safely and efficiently evacuate 

25 a transport category airplane; 


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1 (F) the impact of the presence of carry-on 

2 luggage or personal items (such as a purse, 

3 briefcase, laptop, or backpack) on the ability of 

4 passengers to safely and efficiently evacuate a 

5 transport category airplane; 

6 (G) the impact of seat size and seat pitch 

7 on the ability of passengers to safely and effi8 ciently evacuate a transport category airplane; 

9 (H) the impact of seats and other obstacles 

10 in the pathway to the exit opening from the 

11 nearest aisle on the ability of passengers to 

12 safely and efficiently evacuate a transport cat13 egory airplane; 

14 (I) with respect to aircraft with parallel 

15 longitudinal aisles, the impact of seat pods or 

16 other seating configurations that block access 

17 between such aisles within a cabin on the ability 

18 of passengers to safely and efficiently evacuate 

19 a transport category airplane; 

20 (J) the impact of passenger load (the num21 ber of passengers relative to the number of 

22 seats on board) on the ability of passengers to 

23 safely and efficiently evacuate a transport cat24 egory airplane; 


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1 (K) the impact of service animals and the 

2 ability to safely and efficiently evacuate such 

3 animals from a transport category airplane; and 

4 (L) any other factor determined appro5 priate by the Administrator. 

6 (2) PASSENGERS WITH DISABILITIES DE7 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

8 ‘‘passengers with disabilities’’— 

9 (A) means any qualified individual with a 

10 disability, as defined in section 382.3 of title 

11 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and 

12 (B) includes any passengers— 

13 (i) with a physical impairment, such 

14 as passengers who are blind, deaf, or re15 quire a wheelchair, walker, cane, brace, 

16 prosthetic, or other mobility device; 

17 (ii) whose physical impairment re18 quires the use of a medical device to assist 

19 with mobility, such as a portable oxygen 

20 concentrator; or 

21 (iii) with a developmental or mental 

22 impairment. 

Æ 


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