Originally Posted by
PSU Mudder
If I was on that flight, when I met that passenger at a reunion, I would say "You stupid {expletive}, you panicked and almost cost a lot of us our lives. The crew was professional enough to save us from disaster, and your inability to think clearly nearly thwarted that. I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing that when the going got rough, you panicked, and nearly killed people"
Okay, maybe I wouldn't be so mean as to say it. But I'd be thinking it.
Originally Posted by
flight62
Love it! Maybe we should all chip in and reserve a room for her at Promises. She may be drinking away her mistake.
IMO, a little harsh on the passenger. The lesson is that you need 2 F/As or at least one F/A and one well-briefed passenger in the back in a ditching. Through training or familiarity, crews and frequent fliers know not to use the rear exits. Most people would instinctively try to use the nearest exit, and the safety briefing reinforces that by asking people to note the nearest usable exit. You have to know something about airplanes to know that a rear exit is not usable in a water landing. It may be on the safety card, but in an emergency, the instinct is to get out of the airplane.