Originally Posted by
Often1
These rules are binary and they are carefully thought through. There is always close to a nil possibility that a passenger will be called on to assist crew with an emergency exit door, but it's not nil.
This isn't about the whiners who want miles because the thread count on the hot towels isn't high enough or because the FA only have them 2 ice cubes with their drink.
Every study ever done about safety shows that slavish adherence to the rules is what saves lives.
I would unhesitatingly report the violation to DL and to DOT. The FA doesn't need to be terminated, simply counseled.
I respectfully disagree about reporting this. It's a judgment call and a technical violation of the rules, but I think the situation was OK given the context.
The context is that the row was crammed with trained FAs and there was one who could serve as an interpreter if push came to shove. Priority number one would to get the Portuguese speaker out of the aircraft.
Technically, the passenger should have been reseated. As a practical matter, and bearing in mind flyerCO's excellent post, I think whatever risk existed was minimal at most.
I'll close this post with a PSA. Take the few seconds to review the safety card if you're in an exit row and note the weight of the exit so you know what to expect. There are differences in operating and disposing of the exit on most equipment and some important differences in some aircraft as to whether there is a slide or not. That 5 second review will keep the essentials fresh in your mind.