ironbutt57. my comment isn't silly at all. it is a warning to fellow pilots to be careful ordering an evacuation. For over a dozen years my airline has been teaching us to be careful about such things and also to avoid uncommanded evacuations initiated by passengers.
the facts as reported in published reports are:
the passengers DIDN'T know there was an emergency/fire until told by the crew.
15 people were injured, 5 seriously enough to be taken to the hospital.
And while you might be ready at a moment's notice to jump down a slide, there are elderly people out there who might break a hip doing so and have their lives harmed in the long term.
(exeng...sorry for my mistake. one article I read on the subject indicated that the crew told the passengers to remain seated...and that they did so. the air tours accident also taught us all how important it is to consider the wind in such situations.)
isn't it a bit odd, most every airline I've heard of shows a nice little film about brake fires/tire fires etc. Done perhaps by boeing during testing. No one ever panicked and hit the slides.
No Ironbutt...not for one moment is the: I wasn't there factor playing into my posts.
Are you a pilot? An airline pilot? haven't you been briefed/taught about such things?
just under 20 percent of the people on board were injured. the plane is still intact. using my judgement would have had NO ONE injured and the plane intact.