@Magplug
....I gave up being a passenger about 16,000 hours ago old chap
If your comprehension of what makes passengers scared is so incomplete as to not understand the issue about codewords then the point is completely lost on you. Just don't moan when you see more headlines like the one at the top of the thread.
No - of course "old chap" you are absolutely right. My comprehension is totally incomplete about this and having used such codes on occasion myself on the line, seeing how effective they can be; not to mention my time sat in the back of a simulator assessing other crews use these tools counts for absolutely nothing. I'm sorry. How presumptuous of me.
What they should have done was not said anything at all to the crew, because giving them a full briefing of the event whilst trying to deal with a heavy (over max landing weight) aircraft whilst performing all the necessary actions to run an ECAM drill for an engine fire and the subsequent diversion to an airfield would have obviously only taken moments to complete. The cabin crew, throughout this period of time, would have obviously assumed that everything was OK, and that the problem was being dealt with by the guys up the front, because...well..they would just KNOW...wouldn't they?
They could have then gathered all the crew together (without using the PA of course, as this may distress the passengers somehow), and explain what was happening - tell them to secure the cabin and prepare for the landing.
Easy.
Yup, your way works much better. How stupid of Monarch to not have even thought of that. Thanks for pointing out the idea.
I'm sure, as you say, that Monarch will change their Company SOP's immediately.
I give up.
