panda-k-bear,
I think to be accurate they burnt rather than froze, but you point is valid. The problem is that as a pax (100,000 miles a year or so, mostly in F) I'm not going to choose my airline on how survivable I think they will be if they crash - the chance of that happening (i.e. a crash that has any chance of being survivable) is so small as to be insignificant. I'll choose on the basis of the likelihood of a crash in the first place (excluding KE, CI GA, AI, PIA on that basis) and then on the quality of the service, which, politically incorrect though it is to say it, includes how attractive the cabin crew are. I'll take a beautiful Cathay girl calling me "Mr Christep" over an American Granny calling me "sweetheart" (in the tone she uses for her grandchildren) any day.