page_title: Emergency exit
section_title: Aircraft
hierarchical_section_title: Emergency exit / Aircraft
caption_attribution_description: Notausstieg über der Tragfläche einer Boeing 737. Overwing emergency exit of a Boeing 737.
context_page_description: An emergency exit in a structure is a special exit for emergencies such as a fire: the combined use of regular and special exits allows for faster evacuation, while it also provides an alternative if the route to the regular exit is blocked by fire, etc.
  The qualifications for an emergency exit are as follows: it must be in a location that is easily accessible, the exit must have an area or location that it can bring people to in the event of any emergency situation, it must be controlled by the inside of the building, it must be well managed and regularly up kept, and it must be in a permanent location.
  It is usually in a strategically located outward opening door with a crash bar on it and with exit signs leading to it. The name is a reference to when they were frequently used, however, a fire exit can also be a main doorway must be able to be unlocked from the inside of the room. A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, mounted to the outside of a building.
context_section_description: In aircraft terms, an "exit" is any one of the main doors (entry doors on the port side of the aircraft and service doors on the starboard side) and an "emergency exit" is defined as a door that is only ever used in an emergency (such as overwing exits and permanently armed exits). Passengers seated in exit rows may be called upon to assist and open exits in the event of an emergency.
  The number and type of exits on an aircraft is regulated through strict rules within the industry, and is based on whether the aircraft is single or twin-aisled; the maximum passenger load; and the maximum distance from a seat to an exit. The goal of these regulations is to make possible the evacuation of an airliner's designed maximum occupancy of passengers and crew within 90 seconds even if half of the available exits are blocked.
  Any aircraft where the emergency exit door sill height is above that which would make unaided escape possible is fitted with an automatic inflatable evacuation slide, which allows occupants to slide to the ground safely.
  † 9 passenger aircraft only
  Ventral exits must allow the same rate of egress as a Type I exit, tailcone exit are aft of the fuselage.
  Aircraft for less than 19 passenger must have one sufficient exit in each side of the fuselage, two per side for more, no more than 60 ft (18 m) apart from each other.
  In November 2019, the EASA allowed 'Type-A+' exits with a dual-lane evacuation slide to increase maximum accommodation increased to 480 seats up from 440 with four pairs of doors on the A350-1000, and up to 460 on the A330-900.
caption: Boeing 737 overwing emergency exit
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