Originally Posted by
mickjoebill
Passengers had already exited and are visible at the rear, when the camera zoomed in.
But according to video timecode, 4 minutes after the aircraft came to rest numerous passengers/crew were still exiting the forward slides.
Presumably delayed due to obstructions? Passenger injuries?
It's probably worth reading the report to get the answers to questions like this.
Slides on doors 1L and 2L were activated about 1 minute 33 seconds after the airplane came to a stop.
If you read the report the flight crew were briefly trying to ascertain the condition of the aircraft from the tower as the dust cleared before ordering the evacuation. The cabin crew were in various states of consciousness and awareness or trapped by the slides. One of the cabin crew members saw the external engine fire and unilaterally initiated evacuation.
From the report:
"The 1R slide/raft was found deployed and deflated inside the airplane on the exit passageway floor, extending forward into the forward galley and aft into the right main aisle about 1 to 2 ft.
The 2R slide/raft was found deployed and deflated inside the airplane on the exit passageway floor, extending across the right main aisle, through the midcabin galley, and ending about 1 ft short of the left main aisle."
"The 2R slide/raft inflated into the midcabin galley and blocked the right aisle between B-zone and A-zone, preventing B-zone passengers on the right side of the airplane from moving forward into A-zone and crossing to door 1L. Instead, these passengers crossed B-zone to reach door 2L creating a bottleneck at door 2L, making it difficult for passengers to move forward to reach door 1L. This helps to explain why the flow of passengers out of door 2L remained constant and heavy for about 2 minutes 30 seconds while the flow of passengers evacuating out of door 1L slowed considerably after about 30 seconds.
Despite fastening her restraint before landing, flight attendant R3 was thrown to the floor and seriously injured during impact, and passengers assisted her from the airplane through door 3R after it was opened by passenger 30K. Therefore, flight attendant L3 was the only crewmember in the back half of the airplane who was capable of assisting with the evacuation. Her attempt to open door 3L was unsuccessful,103 so she stayed in the area of her jumpseat and directed passengers to evacuate from both doors 2L and 3R.
In summary, the evacuation was accomplished by 5 of the 12 flight attendants (the cabin manager, L1B, L2A, L2B, and L3) using 3 of the 8 doors (1L, 2L, and 3R)."
I think you really can't seriously criticise the evacuation in this incident.