The policy of allowing CC to initiate an evacuation based on the above criterii(um?) will remain in place until the following happens;
On a dark, wet and windy night a take off will be rejected at high speed due to engine failure with fire. Aircraft will yaw fairly dramatically, decelerate extremely rapidly, lots of noise from the reverser, juddering brakes on the anti-skid and eventually coming to a sudden stop. The impression might well be that the attitude is now not correct after all that drama!
CC will observe flames and smoke outside the aircraft, hear nothing from the cockpit and order the evacuation on the side away from the fire.
So far, so good and all according to SOPs.
Except that on the side away from the fire the engine is still running! The rear chute is blown off the door by the idle thrust from the engine and the Fwd chute goes down the intake and helps stop the engine. It all goes dim/dark and far from quiet as 160 pax begin screaming and shouting.
The pilots are correctly going through the engine fire/failure drill, as directed by SOPs and have completed the part where they put the Start lever(singular) to cut-off when the CC begin the evacuation.
Indeed, every member of crew on board has been following the company SOPs and the result is a clusterfook of the highest order.
No matter how many times I have brought this situation up at recurrent training, no-one has done anything about it. It will have to happen as written before anyone actually changes anything.
But I am soon to retire and have begun to care less that middle management is increasingly populated by yes men, fence dwellers and boat stabilisers.
Happy landings!