Originally Posted by
danielonn
The FAA requires the passengers to read and understand English. What if in an emergency the passengers don't understand other languages exiting the aircraft can be done with watching cues. If you see people going to the Exit then open it if needed. Who would be stupid enough to not know what to do.
The Exit is not some rocket science. In fact Airlines show the Emergency Film in different languages so why would this preclude someone who spoke French on Air France? Seems like an odd rule to me. In an Emergency who the hell has time to worry just open the damn exit and get out of there . Its not rocket science to know not to open the exit if you see smoke and if the slide does not inflate to pull the red handle.
Just my 2 cents.
The behavior of people in emergency situations is
very unpredictable. The responses are often completely irrational. Survivor reports for events like a sinking ship say people are walking around dazed while others are acting as if nothing is happening. From the outside it's like "freakin duh!", but the context is crucial.
From Wiki on US 1549:
Each flight attendant in the front opened a door, which was also armed to activate a slide/raft, although the port side raft did not immediately deploy; a manual inflation handle was pulled. One rear door was opened by a panicking passenger, causing the A320 to fill more quickly with water.
It's not always clear what to do, and being able to hear instinctive, native-language commands like "STOP! KEEP THAT EXIT CLOSED!" in an emergency is crucial. Adding additional languages to the command makes this more difficult as well. It's like the "freakin duh, fire drills suck" aspect of building safety. People can be overconfident in their ability to handle emergency situations, hence the development of instinct-level response to fire alarms, etc.
No. I know some might disagree. However, given the circumstances of THIS situation, I was quite comfortable that, should an emergency arise, there were plenty of folks available to do the job.
I would report it to DL and let a qualified safety professional evaluate the situation. In your situation, maybe you're right, but what about the next flight? The "safety first" culture of DL should positively support your comments and may result in better employee training.