Originally Posted by
floridastorm
Sarcasm aside, there are many people over 55 who are not as capable as people who are younger. Most 55 years old's do not have the strength, agility, and quickness of a 20 or 30 year old. That's just a fact of life. Yes, there are a few over 55 who are physically fit. But, most, even if physically fit do not have the same abilities of a younger person. That is the reason that woman should never be seated in exit rows. They just don't have the inherent strength to handle aircraft emergencies. The female flight attendants go through extensive and rigorous training and even they may have trouble with strength related emergencies. Of course, we are all brave and nonchalant until the plane goes down.
Ummm... But opening the exit is one thing, if you had to make a decision on whether to open it or not, and other issues to do with evacuation duties, beyond having the necessary strength (a relatively strong female can do fine even if they are pretty small, so can people over the age of 55) you might start looking at things a bit differently, e.g. less likelihood of panicking, female voice tends to travel quite well etc. Sheer strength is not necessarily what's needed here. If the airfame has been bent badly enough that the overwing exit is stuck, a sheer human strength might not allow it to be opened anyway, and likely there are gaps in the airframe, or other doors should be used.
Having handled multiple aircraft emergencies (although not involving the over wing exit) and having been in various other emergency situations, I'd much prefer someone level-headed and less likely to panic handling over wing exit or a door but is perfectly capable of handling it than someone with sheer strength.
Opening the over wing exit when it shouldn't be can have a dire consequence.
I'd prefer a female firefighter than a big guy who's never been in an emergency situation.