In the wake of the tragic 1985 British Airtours Boeing 737 accident at Manchester in which 55 people died following an engine fire on take-off, Cranfield University undertook a detailed study into aircraft evacuations on behalf of the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

The research effort in the late 1980s, led by Professor Helen Muir, saw a retired Hawker Siddeley Trident used for a series of evacuation trials with volunteers - including on one occasion, me.

Most of the 60 participants for my trial were (poor) students who had been paid £10 ($20) to turn up, with the promise of a further £5 for each evacuation in which we were in the first 50% to escape - with the cash bonus handed over as soon as we had run down the ramps outside. For already competitive young people, this cash bonus was to prove as compelling an incentive to escape as life itself. <P

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