Originally Posted by
Hi_Tech
The rub is though that it's not only the conditions that you have before ordering an evacuation, but trying to anticipate what they're likely to be like (and erring on the side of caution) as the LAST passengers get off.
If you're only 90% sure that 100% of your pax and CC are going to be safe and yet - with information to hand - judge that they might be safer sitting tight knowing that a mother-load of foam will be going onto that wing in less than a minute - then that (in my small mind anyway) makes the decision they made seem far more reasonable.
Each case is different. It's not like the China Air example where rescue services took around 5 minutes to get there. And it's not like examples where the fire has started in the cabin, tail, or hold.