Originally Posted by
martindo
Of course it's instinctive. It's also instinctive to enter the plane through the door when boarding. A key problem in an emergency is how to move people out quickly and smoothly.
Bahasa Indonesia is a national language that most people don't learn until age 3 or older, when they go to school. In an emergency (e.g., a bus accident), most if not all Indonesians prefer to speak their mother tongue: Javanese, Balinese, Minang, etc. I am fluent in none of those.
The larger issue for the airline is how to train attendants to remain composed and give clear instructions in a language that is probably not "instinctive" for any of them.
What you say is all true, but in reality it all works and it usually works very well. There are many many examples where entire aircraft have been evacuated inside the required 90 seconds and only just before fire or explosion completely destroyed the aircraft.
There is the Garuda Dc-10 that ran off the runway at Fukuoka. The more recent Garuda B737 that crashed on landing (apart from those who dies on the inital impact, everyone else got out before fire destroyed the airframe). And the Air France A340 off the runway at Toronto in 2005.
Lots and lots of cases and the crew get everyone out. Yes there is an issue about people wanting to exit the door they came in, but that is why passengers are asked to identify their closest exit, 'which may be behind them'.
Regards
lme ff