{"id":41224,"date":"2026-04-04T20:16:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41224"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:16:36","slug":"increase-in-elderly-plane-travelers-leads-to-new-in-flight-risks-and-dangers-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41224","title":{"rendered":"Increase in elderly plane travelers leads to new in-flight risks and dangers, study says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Older travelers who may be limited in their dexterity should be spread out across a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/24\/lifestyle\/flyers-say-air-travel-is-unbearable-as-seats-keep-shrinking\/\">flight\u2019s seating<\/a> \u2014 not just for their own safety, but for the safety of everyone on board, scientists say.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires aircraft to be able to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/airlines-told-reevaluate-emergency-evacuation-procedures-after-carry-on-concerns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">evacuate within 90 seconds<\/a>\u00a0in case of an emergency \u2014 but as the average age of the population across the globe increases, experts say the growing number of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/22\/lifestyle\/stranger-puts-face-in-passengers-butt-during-15-hour-flight\/\">elderly airline passengers<\/a> poses new challenges in emergency situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An international team of researchers simulated 27 different\u00a0evacuation scenarios\u00a0in the case of a dual-engine fire on an Airbus A320, one of the most common narrow-body aircraft in the world, news agency SWNS reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The team compared three different cabin layouts with three different ratios of passengers over age 60 \u2014 and three different distributions of those passengers for the study.<\/p>\n<p>Study co-author Chenyang Zhang, Ph.D., of the University of Calgary in Canada, said of the research, \u201cWhile a dual-engine fire scenario is statistically rare, it falls under the broader category of dual-engine failures and critical <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/09\/lifestyle\/4-terrifying-airplane-failures-are-more-common-than-you-think-reseracher\/\">emergencies in aviation<\/a>. History has shown,\u201d he added, \u201cthat dual-engine failures and emergencies, such as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\/this-day-history-jan-15-2009-us-airways-flight-makes-landing-hudson-river\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">famous \u2018Miracle on the Hudson\u2019<\/a>\u00a0involving Captain [Chesley] Sullenberger, can happen and lead to severe consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Older travelers who may be limited in their dexterity should be spread out across a flight\u2019s seating \u2014 not just for their own safety, but for the safety of everyone on board, scientists say. <span class=\"credit\">Montri Thipsorn \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He added, \u201cOur study focuses on these low-probability but\u00a0high-impact events\u00a0to ensure the highest safety standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To seek the most efficient combination of factors, the research team created full-scale computer-aided design models of the A320 cabin and used Pathfinder \u2014 the industry-standard software for evacuation modeling \u2014 to simulate passengers\u2019 behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The findings were published in AIP Advances, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Institute of Physics. The results showed that the proportion and location of elderly passengers had the largest effect on evacuation time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>As the average age of the population across the globe increases, experts say the growing number of elderly airline passengers poses new challenges in emergency situations.\u00a0 <span class=\"credit\">Tyler Olson \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The fastest option \u2014 a layout that accommodates a total of 152 passengers with two rows of first-class seats at the front, and 30 elderly passengers evenly distributed throughout the cabin \u2014 still required 141 seconds for all passengers to reach the ground.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s much longer than the current FAA mandates.<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies have shown that\u00a0cognitive decline in elderly people\u00a0can affect situational awareness and delay decision-making, and that reduced dexterity can be exacerbated during high-stress situations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElderly passengers introduce specific challenges in emergency evacuations due to slower reaction times, reduced physical mobility and a higher likelihood of requiring assistance,\u201d the study authors noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThese limitations can delay both the initiation of movement and walking speed, particularly in crowded cabin environments. When elderly passengers are unevenly distributed and concentrated in certain areas of the aircraft,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/health\/heres-age-when-strength-fitness-begin-fading-long-term-data-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">their reduced mobility<\/a>\u00a0may lead to localized congestion and obstruct the movement of other evacuees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The authors added that in addition to mobility and cognitive limitations, \u201cother challenges include\u00a0impaired vision or hearing, limited manual dexterity, difficulties in interpreting signage or auditory alarms, and a higher susceptibility to panic or physical injury during high-stress situations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research team said it hopes that incorporating that information from its findings \u2014 for example, by offering additional safety briefings to elderly passengers \u2014 could help further accelerate the de-boarding process.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cElderly passengers introduce specific challenges in emergency evacuations due to slower reaction times, reduced physical mobility and a higher likelihood of requiring assistance,\u201d the study authors noted.\u00a0 <span class=\"credit\">Tyler Olson \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Children, babies\u00a0and pregnant women also introduce unique physical capabilities and behaviors that add another vital layer to evacuation modeling \u2014 which the group said it plans to investigate in future work.<\/p>\n<p>Zhang added, \u201cWe hope these findings\u00a0help airlines proactively\u00a0mitigate risks. By understanding how passenger distribution affects evacuation, airlines could potentially implement more strategic seating arrangements to optimize safety without compromising operational efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The US Department of Transportation says on its website, \u201cAirlines must always comply with FAA and foreign government safety rules. There are FAA and foreign government safety rules that\u00a0may restrict certain passengers with disabilities from sitting in an exit row seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The site also notes, \u201cBe aware that while an airline is not required to allow you to select a specific seat, it is required to provide you a seat that meets your needs (with certain limitations for bulkhead seats and emergency-exit seats).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It also notes that those who have \u201ca disability and would prefer or need a certain type of seating accommodation \u2026 should contact the airline at the time you make your reservation to learn more about the method that the airline uses to make arrangements for a seating accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/04\/lifestyle\/increase-in-elderly-plane-travelers-leads-to-new-in-flight-risks-and-dangers-study-says\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Older travelers who may be limited in their dexterity should be spread out across a flight\u2019s seating \u2014 not just for their own safety, but for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}