Originally Posted by
sandydeb
At this point - the crew has ZERO information advantage over you. Especially here where the pilots are sitting in the air over water.
This is why they spend the first 5 minutes explaining all the rules and asking you to read the leaflet. You are expected to react in these situations - not wait.
Strongly disagree. The FAs are in communication with the flight deck. The flight deck has a whole bunch of monitors and dials and gizmos up there that tell them what's going on, in addition to input from FAs looking outside the windows with trained eyes. As an ordinary passenger, all you have are your five senses and how far they can reach from your immediate person.
In that 5 minute safety briefing at the beginning of each flight, I'm relatively sure you are instructed to follow all crew instructions. You are expected to react in accordance with crew instructions.
I referenced US1549 multiple times. Here are some interesting readings on what can happen when passengers ignore crew instructions and act on their own accord, without all the relevant information:
http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf...ml#post4659390
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11129254-post11.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airw...549#Evacuation