In point of fact, an extremely common theme one finds in NTSB investigations of air crashes with survivors is FAs freezing up, panicking, weeping, etc. at the moment of maximum need. Passengers have reported over and over again that in real emergencies, many FAs were of little to no use or even a negative factor. Even in minor emergencies many fold. I recall a New York Times story regarding a US flight that developed a hydraulics problem and had to make an emergency landing... a situation that quickly seemed worse than it was because the FA doing the emergency briefing on the PA was clearly and openly crying. I recall a Flyertalker recounting a UA flight that landed in DEN with a serious systems failure -- a case in which the passengers were largely ignored because the entire FA contingent was weeping, hugging and praying together. There are tons of these cases. The standard assertion that FAs are high-level safety professionals is somewhat undone by the evidence, which shows that when the agenda changes in a hurry from serving Cokes to saving lives, or even acting cool in the face of a POSSIBLE emergency, a disturbing percentage of FAs fold.

I mean no criticism of anyone here because, as flymeaway says, nobody knows how they'll react when push comes to shove. But having read dozens of these NTSB reports I have little to no faith in the ability of the average flight attendant to respond in a serious emergency. I always make my own quiet evac plans during the safety demo. (And if an FA is giggling and stumbling her way through the demo speech, signaling to the whole plane that s/he isn't taking it seriously -- as sometimes happens -- I write that person off immediately.)

I wish the evidence were different, but it's not. There are heroic FAs when things go wrong, absolutely, but there are also a lot who go south at the moment their whole career has been leading up to. No disrespect intended.