>All occupants, including one lap child, and the flight and cabin crewmembers evacuated the airplane through the 1L, 1R, or 4L door slides. (The flight attendants estimated that only five passengers evacuated using the 1L door slide, which was subsequently blocked due to fire.) The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) obtained videos that showed that the evacuation was completed about 2 minutes 32 seconds after the captain's initial command to evacuate.
https://skybrary.aero/sites/default/files/bookshelf/4367.pdf
TWA Flight 843, 292 passengers and crew. "Less than two minutes"
>All of the flight attendants stated that the evacuation was completed in less than 2 minutes.
https://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraf...
Every time I read a comment about JaPaNeSe CuLtUrE I throw up in my mouth a little because was stationed in Japan for a total of three years and their culture is just as fucked as everyone else's... just in different ways.
But it made me think: realistically, the only people sitting in exit rows should be reasonably fit 18-45 year olds in most cases (and I'd prefer men). Yet it's usually whoever has the most money/points/status to get the extra leg room.
/end rant
Airplane overwing exit doors come in two types. The ones that you fully detach and throw out, which weigh less than the average passenger's suitcase [1]. The larger and heavier ones are spring-assisted so you can literally open them with one hand while seated [2].
[1] https://youtu.be/RCFzEg-t_Bk?si=xACVKqIvakrrJnaT at 0:25
[2] https://youtu.be/ZW4xaHN1otE?si=rr0kHUzrRSXJY3Pr at 0:20
i think i've heard of someone trying to open a door mid flight once though, so unless i'm poorly informed, let's not give the TSA ideas around mental health screenings before flights.
At the point where they can be opened, the pressure differential is going to be so low that nothing bad is going to happen, other than maybe someone's bag in the exit row being blown out by the wind. Plus everyone should be strapped in at that point.
I (male early thirties then) once was sat in an exit row (replaced with some other passenger) when flying EasyJet. As I understood then only because I seemed to be more fit to sit there.
Once travelling with Ryanair stewardess exclaimed that "oh no you will be sitting with a baby in an exit row". We said "no no we are sitting the row behind". She said "thanks god I thought I will need to rearrange passengers". Of course a baby in an exit row MUST be a big no no anywhere.
So I have a feeling that it is being looked quite seriously.
Anecdotally, I believe many airlines do this - it's happened to me a few times during check in where they've asked if I'd be OK with the emergency seat.
s/(and I'd prefer men)//
Otherwise I agree. I have no problem with Stallone or Schwarzenegger in the exit rows. But realistically, they fly private jets or in first class.
Edit: Ageism and sexism are good, anti-ageism and feminism are bad! That effective accelerationist mindset has no room for the womenfolk or the senile!
https://www.flightglobal.com/analysis/analysis-superjet-fire...
Made for interesting reading. I think that it's possible that one more life could have been saved without those carry-on bags. That's a responsibility the passangers and crew both share.
>Putin urges Russian women to have ‘eight or more’ children... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-put...
rather than avoiding it all by going home and having a cup of tea or some such.
Edit: interestingly, the evacuation took about the same time in total, but in a river, not on land.
What I’ve read, the reason people taking their carry-on at least partly is because, when having to get out of a plane in a stressful situation, they won’t think “what shall I do now.”, but just activate their “deboard plane” program, and that involves getting their bags before getting out of the plane.
It's already been reported JAL plane damage was bad enough that intercoms didn't work.
Can't lock them for the full flight, at most you can lock them during first/last 30min ascent/descent. But even there, many incidents begin in the air and precipitate an emergency landing. We will then add another item for the checklist (lock the bins) while they are supposed to be focussed on keeping the plane in the air and safely landing it?
So needless cost & complexity that will have maintenance costs, inconvenience costs.. and then have a high probability of failure in the one case it was designed for anyway.
Many problems are people problems and technology can't solve people.
Of course, this obedience to authority has a downside. In South Korea, when the Sewol ferry sank, the crew instructed the passengers to stay inside their rooms while they drank beer and abandoned ship. Many of the obedient passengers drowned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol
You're welcome to call that reductive occidentalism.
As a group people from those cultures behave totally differently. I'm not judging either culture with this observation (although I can be quite critical about some aspects of both); it's a simple observable fact.
I've never been to Japan but in the US people are standing and ready to exit as soon as the plane docks to the airport so I can imagine people running for their lives in this scenario.
5 minutes at most would seem more understandable
Two people might try to get out of an exit door simultaneously, or someone might push over another passenger to get to the exit door, making those behind them trip over the fallen passenger, etc.
I was recently on a UA flight where, maybe 15 seconds after takeoff, a flight attendant rushed out of her jumpseat to try to shield a passenger from a bag from an overhead bin that had just popped open.
n=1, but when it comes down to it in an emergency situation, I bet the flight crew takes their responsibilities very seriously.
(Not to say that Japanese culture is better, just that it happens to be very beneficial in this scenario.)