United Airlines’ very last charter flight to mention good-bye to the airline’s fleet of 747 airccraft, became quite a celebration and you can see my tale and pictures at the event at the Runway Girl Network.
But in the course of all of the hoopla, a representative of the flight attendant’s union cited to me that debate over a trade in the 747 design again within the mid-Eighties spurred an essential protection rule – the FAA’s 60-foot rule – that applies to just about all airplanes nowadays.
The short model of the story is that during 1984 Boeing proposed putting off a hard and fast of exit doors at the 747 jumbo jet to make extra room for seats. Flight attendants and pilots – and their unions – raised concerns over the potential to get absolutely everyone off the plane in an emergency without the ones doorways and driven back.
The Federal Aviation Administration ruled at the side of safety.
Read my full tale on how this occurred in my Runway Girl Network tale here.
Photo courtesy Boeing Company
