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View Full Version : CABIN CREW AND EVACUATION SAFETY


SPARROWHAWK70
20th May 2016, 16:08
As a new pupil to this comment “market place “,…I would like to address , ( on my first attempt to have a whinge or draw attention to what I think needs looking at ) :-- the possible failures in planned cabin evacuation by certain airlines. Since I travel “down the back “ a lot now following retirement 12 years ago from the F/D I have become more aware, not only of the shortcomings of a presumed smooth evacuation, but also of the vain and arrogant ( if that’s the right word ) assumptions by passengers themselves who dress totally inadequately for their air journey.
I am looking at some who are so fat they can hardly get IN to their seats, never mind get out of them, And others wearing those dreaded flip-flops which can only spell disaster for them and the people they hold up as they try so desperately not to hurt their feet when they lose them or have to walk eventually on some sharp and even hot metal after the impact or runway evacuation. They should be made to wear the proper shoes for the job in hand – i.e. travel as safely as possible !
I also note the growing number of foreign cabin crew who can hardly speak audible English ( have you always understood their tannoys ? ) and who leave quite a doubt in my mind sometimes about their agility and efficacy in getting us all out ! I saw a hostie on board a certain Irish airline the other day and I reckon she was no more than 4ft -6 inches , if even that , ( head and shoulders ...just... above the headrest as she passed by ) and built like a stick insect. Can you imagine that one getting a Fatty out of his seat and urging him through the emergency window ? I don’t think so ! I dread travelling on these cheap and cheerful economy airlines now especially if I’m stuck in a seat A or a seat F and I’m in between emergency exits . I look up through the long cabin and can easily imagine the disaster unfolding , as everyone panics and bulging overweight/obese pax try desperately to squeeze their way out past everybody else,- probably reaching into the o/head locker first, as well !! ( look what they’re like when the aircraft comes on stand ) I’m thinking ……………“ if anything goes wrong on this one, Sonny, ( -- despite all the presumed perfect training )—youre not gonna get out , Boy …!! " The CAA and the airlines need to take another long look at more safety parameters and the potholes here when dealing with a full house cabin, and put to the test more stringently, these well founded anxieties, unfortunately evolving, while in their rush to “pack ‘em in” and just make money. Otherwise the hindsight will be too late to save lives.. ……

HeartyMeatballs
20th May 2016, 16:57
Wow, a post full of hatred towards large people but also slim people with then obligatory LCC bashing thrown in This place never ceases to surprise. Mind my troll-o-meter just gave me a master caution when I read this post.

Do you have such a venomous attitude toward PRMs?

If the certain LCC was Ryanair, the minimum height is 5'2".

The fashion these days may be questionale these days but compared to the days of the highly flammable shell suits, I don't think there's a significant risk. Certainly no more than 6 inch heels that people criple themselves with these days.

If you dread the cheap and cheerful airlines then its a free market. Don't fly with them.

ExXB
20th May 2016, 17:12
Don't you just hate those damn foreigners. They shouldn't be allowed in an international industry like aviation.

Leaving the sarcasm aside, you should consider yourself vey lucky that you get as much English as you do. Pity the poor foreigners who get English only, when they travel. Nothing in their mother tounge.

Oh, and even English mother tounges have a real problem understanding a Scot or a Jordey (sp?), speaking a million words a minute.

Hotel Tango
20th May 2016, 17:54
:) Reminds me that one of the best series of PAs I ever heard was from a Belgian CSM on Brussels Airlines. I told him so too as I got off. Some of the worst ever: Americans! Sorry cousins, but that's a fact.

Alsacienne
20th May 2016, 20:34
I have read the OP's comments .... but fear that the primary obstacle to my getting out of an aircraft during an emergency evacuation would be those who were too blasé, cocky or just too selfish to take note of the PA announcement at the start of the flight about the positions of the exits and how to put on a life vest, allowing their inane chatter to drown out the instructions being given for the benefit of those around them.

PAXboy
20th May 2016, 20:51
For many years, I have considered that the regulations of how many doors are needed is undercut by the manufacturers needing to cram in more seat rows. Follow the money and ask who makes the rules. The rules do not take typical pax into consideration.

You cannot change the pax.

Hotel Tango
20th May 2016, 21:23
I have to admit that I'm often left wondering just how smooth and rapid an evacuation of 300+ passengers would be in a real emergency. I think that the Air France A340 accident in Toronto proved that it is possible. I can't find information relating to the actual time it took but I do believe it was pretty rapid.

ExXB
21st May 2016, 06:05
AF358 at YYZ was evacuated within 90 seconds.

Air France Flight 358 was an Airbus A340-313E, registration F-GLZQ, on a scheduled international flight from Paris, France, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. On August 2, 2005, just after landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 4:01 p.m. EDT, it crashed into nearby Etobicoke Creek, approximately 300 m (980 ft) beyond the end of the runway. All 309 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A340 survived, with 12 people sustaining serious injuries. The accident highlighted the role played by highly trained flight attendants during an emergency https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_358

crewmeal
21st May 2016, 06:10
I saw a hostie on board a certain Irish airline the other day and I reckon she was no more than 4ft -6 inches , if even that , ( head and shoulders ...just... above the headrest as she passed by ) and built like a stick insect.

One assumes that she has the strength to open a 737 type passenger door without hesitation. Regarding 'fat' people the only thing a carrier can do in this day and age is increase the number of extension seat belts.

Regarding English speakers I can hardly understand youngster's English these days. They'll grow up in a world of smartfones sorry smartphones where they don't have to speak proper!

ZFT
21st May 2016, 06:21
Ignoring the anti everything within the original post, one of the worst experiences in terms of potential death traps has got to be the rear most seat on the likes of the EM145, especially when full. That overwing exit looks a long way forward and bugger all space to climb over anything (or anyone) forward. If the overwings are unavailable, well!!

I now avoid these pencil jets like the plague.