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| People being rescued through an E8000 rescue staircase at an emergency landing of A380 in Singapore |
The emergency landing required fast and safe evacuation of the Airbus A380, carrying more than 400 passengers.
At the beginning of November 2010, a Rosenbauer E8000 rescue staircase was in action during the emergency landing of an Airbus A380 in Singapore. The wide body aircraft was able to touch down safely at its origin airport and all 459 people on board, were unharmed.
The emergency landing required the fast and safe evacuation of the Airbus A380, carrying more than 400 passengers, was virtually at its maximum capacity. It was in this situation that the E8000 rescue staircase, which was specially designed by Rosenbauer for use with wide-body aircraft, was brought into action. According to international regulations, an aircraft must be evacuated entirely within 90 seconds and with its two passenger decks extending over the entire length of the cabin, the A380 has created fresh challenges in this area. Accordingly Rosenbauer has designed its mobile rescue staircase, which has a rescue height of up to 8.3m, to meet precisely these requirements.
The main staircase disposes over an extremely spacious rescue platform, which facilitates the rapid exit from the plane of the passengers. It even offers sufficient space for a fire extinguishing system for the speedy and efficient fire fighting inside the plane. The staircase can be extended fully from its storage position to maximum height in around 70 seconds and the tasks of the emergency services are made easier by preprogrammed, operational heights for all types of aircraft.
In many cases, the rapid deployment of a suitable rescue staircase means that the deployment of the emergency slides is not necessary. This guarantees the rapid and safe rescue of the passengers and saves the aircraft operator excessive costs. Rosenbauer rescue staircases are not only in operation in Singapore, but also German airports such as Munich, Berlin and Leipzig have put their trust in this device.
