CR2:
How many of the frequent fliers listen to the safety briefing/read the cards? I know many do, and hats off to them. The rest of you "I've been on a 7x7 a hundred times, so I can read my newspaper instead" are a problem.
While it exempts me from the exit rows by travelling with him, my son is young enough to be fascinated by the safety cards so we get to study them closely and explain what all the pictures mean long before pushback.
OFBSLF:
Would a flight crew member be able to better operate an emergency exit than I?
JAR 25.809 states "The means of opening emergency exits must be simple and obvious and may not require exceptional effort.'"
It's notable in some accident reports where cabin crew have reported difficulty opening exit doors. In a lot of cases this is because what's used in the simulator doesn't behave quite the same as a real door. Such as:-
Door 4R was reportedly very heavy to operate and passenger assistance was requested by the attendant, who thought that the door assist system had failed. The door and rigging were later checked and no faults were found, however the door assist actuator was returned to Airbus Industrie for investigation and use in trials, the results of which are described later in this report.
Anyone who wants the full blurb can visit
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources...pdf_503037.pdf which is where I got the text above. There was nothing wrong with the door.