Yes, I think it is very much about knowing what you are doing, and doing it in a prompt fashion before everyone else makes it to the door. I seem to remember a photo of the engine fire in Manchester from the 80s where there is a door which was removed but was not ejected and was stuck in the exit, leading to obvious problems for those trying to use the exit.

On a broader point, BA used to offer flight safety courses open to everyone when the flight training centre was at Cranebank and you could practice removing the emergency exit door. Sadly I didn't get a chance to do a course at Cranebank.

I asked BA about the safety courses when I was there last October. All the cabin training equipment has been moved over from Cranebank now, but the thing they couldn't move was the 737 cabin in which they did all the simulations with smoke etc. Apparently they are looking to buy something similar for the new place but until they do they don't want to offer courses open to the public. They would hope to offer them once they get a replacement. For anyone who does travel a lot they are worth doing.