Emergency = Emergency? Usability evaluation of a novel emergency alerting system for cabin emergencies

Emergencies in aviation often create huge media attention because the number of people involved are high and flying was once considered to be risky, which is still in the mind of some passengers. This study evaluated how passengers and cabin crew classified cases of emergencies. Further, detailed design requirements on the emergency alerting interface were explored. Therefore, two different prototypes of an emergency alerting interface were presented to participants ( n = 160) with the task to evaluate the perceived usability (SUS) and the subjective workload using NASA TLX. The SUS scores for both prototypes were above average indicating a good usability. Red was the preferred colour and a triangle shaped icon with SOS. Broad menu designs with more icons than text were the preference of the users. Passengers as well as cabin crew identified medical emergencies and unruly passengers as emergencies. However, passengers also mentioned technical failure as a possible case whereas cabin crew was more concerned about fire and smoke. This study has substantiated the need for an emergency alerting system since it is expected that the number of medical emergencies and unruly passengers will most likely increase in the future.