Hello again, I would like to put forward a few more remarks from the back seats if I may, of particular concern to me is the apparently barely discussed side doors.
I posted on here a while ago and have been home for a while so my recent helicopter ride experience is some time on a 332L1 yesterday (and then a while last night catching up on this thread). Coincidental to some recent comments I recall wondering as I sat there whether the emergency release on the doors functions when the doors are open and I am a bit disturbed to find they don't.
My theory is that this makes these doors very dangerous simply due to human nature. In the event of a sudden violent ditching, all the folk on board will probably have just one thought on their minds and that is to get out. The 6 persons in the middle row will have the doors and the safest and easiest way for them to leave in a hurry is through the doors and opening the doors will give the largest and therefore easiest gap. In a panic would there be any thought to the training video about these doors obscuring the front windows?
My point is that due to human nature, this will probably be the first choice as it is a well observed method for doing this (i.e. a normal sliding forward opening) - which will condem those in front row. I would suspect in a panic situation the emergency door release would be less likely to be used to to its difficult location in the row forward! This is hard to reach by those next to the door and in panic those in the front row will be trying the windows and not worrying about a door that they are not using. In the event that the door is slid open then they will be unable to release it.
My point discussed before about cramped conditions strongly applies to the front row of seats now I have travelled in them again. My favorite spot is the centre forward facing seat so I can watch the instruments (those I can see anyway - cant quite see VSI) and looking yesterday, I don't see any way that the 6 seats crammed in there could be safe in an evacuation. There was only 4 averaged sized people there yesterday and it would still have been a struggle. I noticed the window closest to me was of the small type and I would have been hard pressed to use it and there was an empty seat between me and it meaning that 2 folk should have been using 1 small window! I would question if window size vs a north sea person in full modern survival gear including air pocket has ever been tested.
There is obviously also the issue of comfort. The 4 people yesterday staggered the seats to give each other leg room but 6 people in these seats leaves 4 people jammed together very closely. Maybe it would be wise to video people disembarking from arriving helicopters and those flights where a percentage of the passengers are staggering in pain to the terminal due to cramp be looked at.
Following that question I would like to ask if anyone knows who defines the capacity of 19 people on these flights and what are the specifications? Does it have anything to do with escapability? From a non technical point of view I doubt it, therefore raising the question is the basic capacity rating procedure wrong? Having looked again yesterday sadly I would suspect most of the casualties in the recent tragic accident may have been in this section of the cabin.
In summary I would like to know what others think of the doors. Would it be wise to have the emergency release next to or on the door itself and clearly labelled that it must be used in emergency? Could it be redesigned to work when open or partially open as well (I realise this would be difficult)? Can anyone define the capacity rating procedure?