As a very regualr pax but witha keen interest in civial aviation I did find this interesting because of two things that happened to me.
One occason was just theorectical after I posted some comments about what happened to me on a thread about Sept 11 . I was on a flight that turned back and was held for about 6 hours overhead Lands End. I commented on the fuel dumping and unusual long noisy bumpy return to LGW with lots of flap and gear dangling all the way from Lands End.to Gatwick saying the engines seemed close to climb power. I got flamed seriously, told numerous times I was an diot , got ti all wrong, mistook what i saw and heard etc until a reply came in from the FO /PF on my trip. No he said what i described was exactly what happened-very unusual yes but an unusual event. Perhaps some of those who had a go at me were pilots but there was a srrong sense of what could you know as just a passenger.
Second time was for real- Off on holiday in the 90s Gatwick to Faro with Ambassador?? long defunct on a 737-200 . I am sitting by the wing leading edge-and they do not extend the leading edges. On and on we taxy towards the holding point and still no leading edge extension. Now we are at the hold and frankly I am pretty scared since I doubt we will fly far without the leading edge flaps but what do I do? Say something to a 20 y/o FA and be told to mind my own business or just sit there , I know the crew probably cannot see the actual wings and well it is a rather dirty shabby example of a 73 so maybe they have a false indication up there. A few minutes go by at the holding point whle I agonise and finally just as we start to move slowly towards the runway down go the leading edges. I was worried, I think rightlly so but in the end I never said anyhting, I suppose because I did trust the crew and presumeably they had there reason for the late slat extension.
(Mind you the appraoch and landing in Faro made me wonder whether I had been right to trust them -LoL)
Anyway I do thnk it s a bit unfair to dismiss pax as idiots-sure some-maybe many are and the scene on the BMI flight appears inexcusable. However,and I know this varies from crew to crew. it seems to me that sometimes a few words from up front go a long long way to making sure the folks in back are relaxed and on a humid day mentionng such phenomena is surely a good idea. I used to fly on BA Cityflyer 146s with there noisy musical flap extensions sounds whch did make people sit up and stare when nothing was said. Several crews hwever realised that the 146 is different and notceably so in this respect from most peoples previous experiences and always mentioned it in a seensible downbeat often gently humourous way and when the noise duly appeared no one batted an eyelid compared to the swivelling heads and widening eyes common when no warning was given.
So a difficult judgement I suppose but as in many things in life a little bit of ommunication and respect for customers can go a long long way. At the end of the day we are your customers and we do pay your wages as much as we should behave ourselves when on your plane.
PB( Ducks quickly)