Originally Posted by SEA_Tigger

What you ask for, RonAiler, is pretty impractable. Such a structure would have to be pretty large, which would take up a good portion of gate real estate. Not to mention on some aircraft the "Exit Row" is a physical door - not a window exit - so you'd need to have a full aircraft door present, as well. We're talking probaby hundreds of square feet, all total.

Then there is the time factor. Airlines would have to station additional staff there solely to handle the "tests". You could have dozens of people who need to be "tested". Do you need to show up an hour early at the gate just to do the test? Or do you force them to do the tests while everyone else boards? At that point, you miss out on service (in premium cabins) and overhead bin space (in Economy) which will really go over well with your most frequent travellers. Not to mention holding up the flight for everyone else, which will not go over well with the whole plane, as well.

In non-catostrophic incidents (aborted take-off) that does not result in compromise of the airframe, they don't use the over-wing exits, anyway, as it is easier and safer to evacuate through the main doors. And in those incidents, an FA is stationed right at each door so the passengers never have to assist.

And catastrophic incidents that do compromise the airframe are so rare (last one I can remember was that British 732 that burst into flame during an aborted take-off like a decade ago) that the benefits of testing are far outweighed by the negatives involved. And in such an event, self-preservation will probably ensure that if the person at the door doesn't open the exit, someone else will go through them and do so.