Cruise disaster: world expert on emergency evacuations speaks
One of the world’s leading experts on emergency evacuations has commented on the escape from the capsized cruise liner, Costa Concordia.
Professor Ed Galea, Director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich, told Sky News: “It’s virtually impossible to launch lifeboats once the ship is listing at more than 20 degrees, as in this case. If the evacuation had started when the ship was holed then it’s likely there would have been a very different outcome. The passengers would have been assembled in 40 to 60 minutes and could have boarded the lifeboats while the ship was still upright.”
Professor Galea, pictured, was also interviewed by BBC News, ITV News, BBC Radio Merseyside and the Guardian, where he described the idea of “women and children first” as a “Hollywood” notion.
The university’s Fire Safety Engineering Group is a world leader in computational fire engineering. It has unparalleled expertise in aircraft, building, ship and rail evacuation and fire modelling, with its team of experts undertaking a unique combination of leading-edge research, large-scale human factors trials and practical real world consultancy. Fire Safety Engineering Group’s projects have included studies of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, the Sydney and Beijing Olympics, the World Trade Centre evacuation and the 7 July London bombings.
Story by Public Relations