Guppy - it's your astronaut abilities that incite the yawn, and the fact that you think all passengers who've had a 30 second briefing became good 'egress workers'...
My point about the sim is that although I've done it (yes, without flashovers, dripping nomex etc) most of your average pax haven't so won't have the faintest idea just how disorientating it can be in thick smoke.. Or even in no smoke because they'll be generally going into some kind of shock when things don't go as planned.. Remember, flying frightens the sh1t out of many people.
As for the ATR hatch - well, you did comment that one of the crew should be first out to organise things on the ground... I'm just saying that it's not always easy! The ATR's I flew had 2 pilots and 2 cabin crew - one by the back door and one by the front emergency exit. They were BOTH required to remain on board to direct pax out of the exits - using loud commanding voices (didn't want to forget that), the pilot's both have checklists to run and decisions to make, that by the time they're done and get around to 'egressing' the evacuation of 66 pax (72) or 48 (42) will be finished.. And fire services may not be there for 60 seconds. And you are STILL surprised that things look messy
