Smaller seat pitch leads to faster evacuation?

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EDDNHopper

The section of the report you cite focuses on the narrow gap between seats through which people had to access the overwing exit itself - i.e. it was the limited rate of flow of people at the exit point that was the problem and contributed to the tragic outcome.

However, the seat pitch of the rows from which people enter the aisle in order to travel towards the exit is an entirely different matter. Does anyone know if this was studied in relation to the British Airtours accident?

I think the bottom line is - all exits have a maximum throughput before problems arise - and obviously the seat pitch at the exit row may be a significant limiting factor determining this rate. Consequently there may be little to be gained from people being able to travel towards the exit at a faster rate than they can get out of it.

Put it this way - if people can get into an aisle at a faster rate than they can leave that aisle then that aisle will start to fill up and people will end up on top of each other. The seat pitch at the exit row is a determinant of the exit rate and this should probably be as wide as possible. The seat pitches for other rows are determinants of the input rate and thus there could be benefits to them being narrower.