Quote:
Try it next time you're in the hangar, wearing three layers of clothing, an immersion suit (ours, not yours) and a LAPP jacket. The handle is not above your head.
It was something that emerged in the G-REDU investigation, and explains why the starboard door was opened normally and not jetissoned. The AAIB were incredulous.
Don't think that's quite right. An extract from REDU's report is below -
The training [briefing] material, however, did not focus on the difficulty of carrying out an emergency jettison of the starboard main door. It was not made clear that the emergency release handle may need to be operated by a passenger seated in a row further forward than the row adjacent to the door. The passengers were therefore unable to locate the starboard main door emergency release handle and subsequently it was not jettisoned. Instead they opened it normally, sliding it to its forward position and obstructing the two forward right cabin window exits.
Add to this the desire to get out fast, possible inattentiveness during the briefing and the reversion to ingrained actions that many experience during highly pressured situations (eg treating the control column on a light aircraft like a car's steering wheel) and you have a cocktail of reasons why the G-REDU door may have been opened in the normal manner.