No_Fly_Zone wrote.
The pix of this event suggest that opening L2 likely would have caused far more serious problems. That much I'm sure about.
What I do not know is how cabin crew monitors the Over-Wing exits in a similar event. In this case, popping the first Left Over-Wing hatch would have been almost as bad as opening L2. They do not have sufficient staff to monitor the Over-Wing pop (in or out) hatches and I do not know how they control their use. Does anyone out there know?
I know at our Airline, the flight attendants come back and give the overwing exit row passengers a quick briefing on how to open this exit, and (sometimes ) advise them to check for fire first. Often it seems these passengers are just happy to find themselves with the extra leg room, and don't even listen to the briefing. Many seem to me to be incapable of opening/lifting the exit window, but F/As are reluctant to pull someone from one of these exit rows and find them another seat. .Some airlines even offer these rows to passengers for an upgrade price for more legroom.
In my opinion these rows should be offered to deadheading/retired crew first, who have trained in a smoke filled sim to pull the handle down, and throw the overwing exit out of the way. As I have, in mixed crew training with Flight Attendants. These are plug type doors, so you must pull the window exit in, which is counter intuitive.
Another safety issue that bothers me. I often find myself sitting far from the overwing exit rows, while untrained passengers sit there, possibly unable to open the over-wing exit in an emergency..