Skytrax:
Cc have no clue if the engines are on or not, other than the noise. With that situation going on outside it would be hard to determine that.
Exactly, and that's why the cabin crew should NOT initiate an evacuation of their own accord UNLESS the situation in the cabin becomes life threatening. I replied to a post that suggested the cabin crew should have done so even though the situation inside the cabin had NOT become life threatening.
That post also suggested the cabin crew should have initiated an evacuation even if the pilots weren't aware there was a fire. The point that I was trying to make is that IF the pilots weren't aware there was a fire, then they may not have been planning an emergency evacuation. If that was the case, then they probably would not have started the emergency evacuation checklist, in which case the engines would NOT have been shut down. Mind you, I am not suggesting that's what actually happened here. At this point we simply don't know.