Very poor- never ever make a PA to the cabin like that until you have briefed the cabin crew first, unless you have little time before landing. The cabin crew are part of the operating team (remember Kegworth). You brief the team first and give them time to brief each other-then make your cabin PA.
Well, I kind of foresaw someone responding like you, hence:
Some may disagree with the NITS thing, since they want to see you perform it in the simulator, but in this scenario it's BS.
I'll eleborate:
I agree with you,
in the case that the cabin crew have to
take a specific action. E.g. to prepare an emergency landing, or let's say a lesser emergency like a diversion in case of a medical emergency. Needless to say, then the cabin crew should be informed first and the passengers afterwards so that a co-ordinated effort can be made.
If they don't have to do
anything at all and are still seated and buckled up (like in the engine failure during takeoff scenario), it has no practical value to do a special breifing for the cabin crew - on the contrary, it's a waste of time where you could have brought the plane closer to landing. However, that doesn't prevent you from asking for additional information from the cabin crew if you feel that it's necessary (unextinguishable engine fire comes to mind). Ask them to brief you what they observe instead.
Incidentally this is in complete accordance with my Flight safety manual. And I bet yours too.
It's as well in accordance with the recommendations from the Kegwoth report, that you brought up:
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources...0%20G-OBME.pdf
2.1.4.2:
In addition it should be possible to
provide simulator exercises in which it would be
appropriate for pilots to ask cabin crew to give a briefing on events in the cabin and for the role of the cabin crew to be taken, in such excursuses, by the simulator instructor.
Unfortunately, it has some places been dumbed down to satisfying a checker with a NITS briefing. Which, when **** hits the fan in real life and you are running through the one engine inoperative checklist and ATC says "let me know when you are ready to turn base", you will never do!
Your reference to Kegworth is completely misunderstood. Obviously we are not going to have a democratic discussion with the cabin crew about which engine to shut down, before doing the memory items. Likewise, if the cabin crew is buckled in, we are not going to ask them to run down the isle to check if we shut down the right engine if we had a flame out.