Nigel, after an impact as severe as that, a 90 second delay to authorising evacuation is a very hard thing to explain or justify....I dont think your post did either
I think you will find pilots do not "authorise" an evacuation. They "order" one, after assessment of the situation and completion of the checklist/procedure. If/when you start your pilot training they teach you such things
As stated, it took QF an hour
If it is "urgent" the CC can initiate it without the Flt Crew order.
What were the circumstances you know of now that definitively warranted an earlier evacuation order? PS The NTSB chair gave a good account last night of why the delay may have occurred.
Personally I
suspect that the evac probably should have been called earlier, maybe even much earlier, in an ideal world. But I do not have the knowledge/data to criticise a fellow professional from afar, so will await that information.