This document compares safety procedures for air travel and hotels. It notes that air travel has strict regulations and safety demonstrations, while hotel safety depends on location and management. The document proposes making hotel safety comparable to air travel by requiring evacuation demonstrations, guest safety cards, and staff training. The goal is to save lives by preparing guests and staff for emergencies.

1. B Y : S A M S A L L A M F I H
S T A Y I N ’ A L I V E
Air safety for air travelers and hotel
safety

2. What is the difference between flying and staying
in a hotel?
A. When flying:
 When you are travelling by air, there is very strict
regulation and legislation concerning passenger safety.
 Demonstrations before take off takes place by the cabin
crew showing the exits also all life safety requirements as
well as videos.
 Detailed information and instruction is also found in the
seats in front of every passenger.
 Exits are marked clearly and in case of an emergency and
darkness there is floor and ceiling guided lights to exits.

3. B. When you are staying in a hotel:
 No demonstration is given when you check in.
 It depends on your luck if you are staying with a
known chain or not.
 It depends on the city and country.
 It depends how the policies for safety are enforced.
 It depends on the ownership and management
understanding of the seriousness of fire and
emergencies.
What is the difference between flying and staying
in a hotel?

4. What is the difference between flying and staying
in a hotel?

5. What is the difference between flying and staying in a
hotel?

6. What is the difference between flying and staying
in a hotel?

7. What is the difference between flying and staying
in a hotel?

8. Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft
Evacuations
For Immediate Release
March 24, 2006
Contact: Les Dorr, Jr.
Phone: (202) 267-3883 (202) 267-3883
The following release is contributed to Les Dorr, Jr.

9. Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.
The Key to Survival
It’s rare that passengers have to evacuate a commercial
airliner in an emergency, but when it’s necessary, they must
do it as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Before airliners receive Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) certification, the manufacturer must prove that
passengers can exit the aircraft quickly enough to comply with
regulations. And over the years, the agency has upgraded
cabin safety requirements to make it more likely that
passengers will survive an aviation accident. Most U.S.
commercial airplanes have numerous FAA-required features—
such as floor path emergency lighting, fire-resistant seat
cushions, low heat and smoke release cabin materials, and
improved cabin insulation — to give passengers and crew
enough time to make a speedy evacuation.

10. Passing the Test
FAA certification requirements on emergency
evacuations are relatively simple, and are intended to
ensure that airplane design and crew training provide a
consistent level of safety across all the airplane models in
the commercial fleet.
Federal regulations specify that the manufacturer of
an airplane with more than 44 passenger seats must
show that the maximum number of crew and passengers
can evacuate the airplane under simulated emergency
conditions within a time specified in the regulations. An
actual full-scale demonstration is required unless the
applicant can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FAA
that a combination of tests and analysis will yield
equivalent data.
Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.

11. Passing the Test
The regulations also spell out detailed conditions
under which a full-scale evacuation demonstration must
take place. They specify things such as the lighting
conditions, configuration of the aircraft and the age and
gender mix of passengers. One of the most important
conditions is that the passengers must be “naïve”, i.e.,
they may not have not participated in a similar type of
demonstration for at least six months.
When the evacuation begins, the test passengers are
directed to exit the plane just as they would in an actual
emergency. The evacuation time period is up when the
last person (passenger or crew member) has left the
airplane and is on the ground.
Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.

12. Researching Survival
Since the 1960s, the FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical
Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, OK, has been recognized
as a world-renowned center for research on technical issues
and human behavior associated with emergency aircraft
evacuations.
CAMI’s Cabin Safety Research Team supports FAA
regulatory and airworthiness functions through studies on
seating density, exit size and location, passenger flow rates
through exits and flight attendant behavior. The studies are
done using an aircraft cabin evacuation facility and human
research subjects. For the future, a Boeing 747 evacuation
facility is coming on line to enhance the study of exit problems
encountered on larger aircraft with higher door sill heights
and multiple aisles.
Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.

13. Improvements to Cabin Safety
A number of FAA-mandated
improvements to cabin safety are
designed to give passengers and crew
more time to evacuate an airliner. Some
examples are:
 Seat cushions: Air carriers had until
Nov. 1987 to comply with a new
regulation that required the installation
of new fire-blocking layers on aircraft
seat cushions. Air carriers replaced
650,000 foam seat cushions on the U.S.
fleet. FAA research found that the new
material did a better job retarding
burning and provided 40 to 60 seconds
of additional time for aircraft
evacuation. All existing seats in the U.S.
fleet meet the improved standards.
Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.

14. Improvements to Cabin Safety /continued/
 Floor lighting: By 1986, the U.S. commercial
fleet was retrofitted with floor proximity
lighting, marking the completion of a two-year
compliance schedule. Since smoke rises and can
obscure overhead lighting, the FAA determined
that floor lighting could improve the evacuation
rate by 20 percent under certain conditions.
 Improved interior materials: In 1985, the
FAA developed a new test standard for aircraft
ceilings, walls, overhead bins and partitions. The
agency required that all commercial aircraft
built after Aug. 20, 1988 have panels with
reduced heat and smoke emissions, delaying the
onset of a fire “flashover.” Although there was
no retrofit of the existing fleet, the FAA requires
that these improved materials be used during
major cabin refurbishment.
Fact Sheet – Stayin’ Alive: the FAA and Aircraft Evacuations
By: Les Dorr, Jr.

15. Preparing to land during an emergency

16. Hard facts
 Airlines are prepared and ready for emergencies due
to strict regulations and legislations worldwide.
 Hotels are not.
 Airlines have clear compensation in case of death or
injury. Ruled by IATA and Warsaw Convention.
 Hotels are depending on the chains the countries
and the local readiness of cities.
 Airlines have all the emergencies posted and clear.
 The hotels do not do the same.

17. What to do to improve this situation
 As a hotelier of 45 years, I am taking a crusade and a
mission to enforce that hotels will become as close as
possible in their regulation as to the airlines.
 Every hotel has to do either a lobby demo or a video
running 24/7 in the lobby area to show exactly the
particular emergency exits and fire plan.
 Each guest checking in will be handed a card
showing what to do in case of fire or evacuation.
 All hotel staff has to be trained as per the next
presentation on fire and safety.

18. Saving lives
By: Sam Sallam
 One life saved is a fulfillment of the responsibility of
ownership and management.
 One life saved bring back a father, a mother or a
child to their family. The smiles you see when people
meet again is worth all the money in the world.