Originally Posted by
Gauges and Dials
Sweeping statements like this are almost always wrong. I can think of dozens of scenarios in which a passenger is right to commence an emergency evac. Two off the top of my head:
- Plane on stand; engines off; pax sitting near rear exit; hijacker racing toward cockpit; hijacker not yet in control of aircraft; crew all busy with hijacker.
- Plane on stand; engines off; rapidly spreading fire breaks out two rows ahead of passenger who is seated at emergency exit...
Hmmmmmm.
So out of the "dozens of scenarios you could think of" you chose two where it's WRONG to initiate your own evac!
How so? In the above scenarios the doors are almost certainly not armed. Do you know how to initiate slide inflation of an unarmed door? Do you "jump for it" without a slide? Do you encourage other passengers to exit with you? Do you encourage them to "jump for it" with you? Do you scream and shout, make a run for the rear doors, fight the crew stationed there so you can open an unarmed door, and generally cause a panic among the other passengers? Did you overlook a crew member and by your actions you prevent that crew member from assisting the others in taking down the hijacker? Do you know if there are other hijackers present and by your actions YOU could be mistaken for another hijacker? Did the "rapidly spreading fire" in the cabin get in from outside? Is the side you've chosen to exit the aircraft engulfed in flames and by opening the exit on that side you've made a bad situation much much worse? I could go on, but you get the point.