Originally Posted by
Roger Greendeck
For those so keen to criticise the decision not to evacuate in Singapore recently. In training too many people treat an evacuation like the end of a fairy tale '...and they lived happily ever after'. But every evacuation has significant risks and it's even worse if there's smoke, fire, foam, and vehicles surrounding the aircraft. The same accusation was levelled at the QF32 incident in Singapore, even though the number one engine couldn't be shut down and despite everyone disembarking safely. For now can we just be happy that evacuating worked safely this time and delaying worked safely a few weeks ago. When the detailed reports come out in due course we can make a more balanced assessment of the crew's actions.
A good outcome does not indicate an effective decision making process. Plenty of people have made appalling decisions over the years without a bad outcome. Some people have made extraordinary decisions in diabolical situations and not lived to see the next dawn.
Every decision to stay has significant risks. The point often lost in the QF32 incident was the crew had the ability with QF procedures to disembark with slides and not as an evac. This allowed them to nominate which slides they wanted to use and to do it at a more sedate rate that minimised injuries- ie they could have used main deck only slides and taken their time to get set up properly on the ground with appropriately briefed ABPs to assist.