Originally Posted by
J.O.
The other (and more important) reason for dimming cabin lights is to give the cabin crew a better chance of seeing and assessing the outside conditions through that tiny window to determine if an exit is safe to use - or not. I can't recall which one but there was an accident report done several years ago which identified problems seeing outside because of the brightness of the cabin lighting. This led to the dimming of the lights being SOP in most of the world.
I don't think that you could have flown recently. 'Window' seat pax on arrival in the aircraft slam the blind hard down and proceed to access their social media or phone or text etc., Indeed, most flights these days with all blinds down are more like being in the hold of a freighter (and I have done enough of that too). I have suggested previously that window blinds should be 'up' (off) for takeoff and landing for the reasons you suggest. Nobody appears to be interested, which makes me think that despite the protestations of safety being number 1 priority, a lot of what is done is just a ritual dance that nobody really remembers the reason for nor takes seriously. The problem with this approach is if the cabin crew seem to be just going through the motions then the pax will not take in what they are being told and will try to walk back against the evacuating stream to get their oversize roll-aboard out of the overhead, and if they are seen doing that then others will too.
I would suggest a different approach which is to say WHY something is being briefed (and be truthful). if nobody in the airline knows why it is done then don't brief it/do it as a requirement until someone identifies a reason. Similarly, as someone suggested up thread - tell pax that if they evacuate they will need to leave all bags behind so all important documents/meds/keys should be in pockets or belts. Do this
before boarding for obvious reasons. Same with footwear and clothing - it should be suitable for going down a slide then running away from an aircraft over bits of broken aircraft and ideally not be flammable.
I realize that there is a fine line between scaring off the pax and keeping them safe but safety is the number one priority is it not?