FAA says it won't regulate amount of airline legroom
A campaign group who claim slashing seat pitches on planes is harming passenger safety have had a court bid to regulate legroom rejected.
American group FlyersRights had taken the US Federal Aviation Administration to court to force them ensure airlines leave sufficient space so aircraft can be evacuated quickly in the event of an emergency.
It argued that cramped planes combined with the larger size of passengers means that planes can't be evacuated in 90 seconds as required.
A campaign group who claim slashing seat pitches on planes is harming passenger safety have had a court bid to regulate legroom rejected (file picture)
But federal regulators rejected the group's plea saying it saw no immediate safety issue that required new rules.
The FAA also cited seven recent accident, where all passengers were able to evacuated.
The agency turned down FlyersRights once before, but last year a federal appeals court ordered them to take another look at the issue, saying the FAA had relied on outdated or irrelevant tests and studies.
It came after Paul Hudson, a lawyer for FlyersRights said: 'In the real world, people are taking a lot longer than 90 seconds to get out.'
He added the FAA relied on tests from the 1990s using people who 'don't' resemble the profile of American passengers today.'
And following the latest court ruling, Mr Hudson said the group may go back to the appeals court to force the FAA to act.
Previously the distance between one seatback and the seatback in the next row - what airlines call 'pitch' - measured about 35 inches in economy class.
Today on some planes it is as tight as 28 inches, although thinner seat cushions offset some of the shrinkage. Seat width has changed far less, if at all.
Aircraft manufacturers submitted videos of evacuation tests to argue that new rules are not needed.
Boeing said that in 1996 it tested planes with 351 passengers and 28 inches of pitch, and the results met FAA evacuation standards.
argued that cramped planes combined with the larger size of passengers means that planes can't be evacuated in 90 seconds as required (file picture)
Jeffrey Gardlin, a safety engineer who has worked for FAA for 36 years, said large passengers can take longer to escape exits, so the agency sets minimum sizes for over-wing exits.
But, he said, size doesn't make much difference in the time it takes to get from a seat to the aisle.
In an affidavit, Mr Gardlin cited seven accidents since 2015 in which passengers were able to escape planes designed to meet current standards.
Some passengers were hurt during evacuations but none died in fires, even those that destroyed the plane.
He said there were no reports that seat size or row pitch slowed any of the evacuations.
However, Tuesday's decision is not necessarily the final word on aircraft seats.
A House-passed bill would direct the FAA to set minimum seat sizes, although it leaves the decision on the exact measures to the agency. The bill is pending in the Senate.
Last month, the Transportation Department's inspector general announced a review of the FAA's evacuation standards, noting that today's planes have more seats, passengers are larger, and they have more carry-on bags.
The inspector general was responding to a request from members of the House Transportation Committee, which followed a confused evacuation of an American Airlines jet in Chicago after an engine fire.