Flames, water and slides: Behind the scenes of Air New Zealand’s emergency evacuation training

Air New Zealand crew are experiencing a whole new way to train for emergencies on its international flights. Its Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET) for its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has been up and running for about three weeks and will see 1600 pilots and flight attendants taken through it each year. Thousands of scenarios can be simulated for crew to train together in a highly realistic environment. Flames at the door? Press a button it’s there. Landed in the water? Press a button and there it is. Laptop on fire in an overhead locker? Extinguishing it can be practised too. The trainer is a first-of-its-kind mock up with a cockpit, business, premium and economy cabins - an upgrade from the previous “simulator” which was a plane door. Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan told Stuff Travel safety is critical in the industry. “There are a number of different types of things that we could simulate. We've worked out the ones that we think are important and, in fact, it's what the industry deals with very regularly. Turbulence is one thing, medical emergencies on the aircraft.... then of course the more significant events, such as failures of the technology on the aeroplane, an engine failure, the ability to do an off-airport landing, something in the water.”<br/>