Originally Posted by
PT6Driver
To Lomapaseo and Parabellum
Firstly we as hindsight observers can see from the video a fire outside. At the time we would not have known what was burning, how effective the fire services would or wouldn't be, or how quickly the fire would burn through if at all etc. Based on that the majority here including myself would have ordered an evacuation.
The fire at Manchester breached the hull in a matter of seconds, fire did not enter through any open doors. The smoke that entered created a sense of panic in the passengers, this is all from the official report. Waiting until the fire breaches before ordering an evacuation is time wasted. Once smoke or flames enter the cabin it is almost a certainty that people will die. By 1 minute after stopping it is highly likely that pax had already died at Manchester. foam did not start in this case until after 1 minute.
Watch the video of the evacuation in Dubai, there is no sense of urgency to get out, rather pax are looking for a normal exit procedure, getting luggage etc. The aisles are blocked and initially there is very little movement towards the exits. Now imagine thick smoke or flames entering that scene. How do you think people would have reacted?
The next question is why did the Flightdeck not order the evacuation? Remember that they were not in fire mode. They had a technical problem, an engine was not shut down but at idle, a normal approach and landing was made, thrust reversers were used. All perfectly normal and non emergency. Why did they stop on the runway? Was it a fire warning or had they already decided to stop so the fire services could inspect for leaks? From the cockpit it could be that they were unaware of the fire. The engine fire warning may not have sounded. If so why look at the ctv? From an earlier post refrencing a cabin crew forum post a cc states she was very busy blocking her door dealing with anxious pax including a mother and her child. She was unable to inform the flight deck or the senior about the situation outside. What if none of the cabin crew informed the flight deck? What if the tower didn't? What if the initial fire crews didn't comunicate? All these what ifs mean that it is entirely possible that the Flightdeck were unaware of the fire or how serious it was. Given that scenario what would your decision making process be? How long would it take? However I would like to think that if they were made aware of the true situation then they would have chosen to evacuate. FWIW the Captain is the person who is responsible for initiating an evacuation not the Fire Chief.
Finally Lomapaseo (and parabellum), at Manchester how long would you have delayed opening the doors?
The only thing I would add to that is that if the fc did not order the RFF before landing (understandably, at that point they did not think they had a fire problem), then who did? It has been said that the RFF was already out (for whatever reason). Regardless, someone sent them to the SQ plane. I would imagine it was the tower that saw #2 on fire, given the response time. It was an emergency landing so attention was raised after all. And in the half light, it would be easy to see.
So the tower would have said #2 is on fire to the fc. And when the a/c is already on the ground and stopped, my first instinct would be to send the FO to eyeball the situation and report.
OK, some conjecture I know. But if the fc did not see they were ablaze, someone did, and for sure that info got to the flight deck.
So here is the bottom line. You can either call evac on the news that #2 is on fire. Or you can send the FO back to take a look, and call evac when he reports the whole wing is on fire. These are the only two acceptable options. Doing nothing is not an option in that scenario.
If the cc tells you the same news, then evac is also the same answer. But I for one would send the FO back if I don't here anything from the cc.