Originally Posted by
tdracer
Out on the Boeing flight line, when the weather was nice they'd frequently have the overhead escape hatch open to provide ventilation to the flight deck (with the sun shinning, it could rapidly get pretty hot and stuffy up there with the packs not running). I'd occasionally get up and stick my head out the hatch and think about what it would be like to have to grab one of the inertial reel handles and jump out of that hatch.
Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't do it in an emergency, however the alternative would have to look pretty grim before I'd try it...
Anyone know if that hatch and the inertial reels were ever used in a real emergency?
I'm petrified by heights, of course, I would never dance on the roof of a 747, but if it's fire, another thing I'm petrified about, I would quickly take the jump. The prospect of either makes me feel butterflies in my stomach though.