And quite right it is media fodder too. We all know how the media regularly over react to most non-events in the world of aviation, but in this case, if I had been onboard in such circumstances I would have been more than a little nervous.
Any fire or potential fire situation can be scary stuff and combine that with the AF incident which although totally unrelated, does mean it is fair to receove media exposure.
For any so called professionals who wish to utter the usual tripe about "pax over reacting", "media sensationalising" etc, just put yourselves in the position of the pax who do not have the same insight into our industry and who were completely entitled to be more than a little worried.
It sounds a well handled situation but that doesn't mean people should be belittled for their reaction to it.