Originally Posted by
eightblack
Where are you getting the 8 mins and 10 mins numbers from?
While there has been praise for the crew and I would say rightly so because they kept the passengers calm (good for them that the passengers were Japanese), it is an area of concern that the evacuation started quite late. The reason they all made it alive is
- The fire was slow to spread to critical areas
- the airframe remaining intact and the fire-resistant material gave them precious moments
However, it must be analyzed why it took so long for the cabin crew to make a decision. As per the latest reports, the pilots were unaware of the fire (how/why?), the passengers kept pressing the cabin crew to let them out, and at long last it was the cabin crew that took the initiative to open the rear exit (which they should have done earlier). The protocols need to be clear and cabin crew should feel empowered to make such decisions. As per the following video, it took 10-18 minutes to evacuate the plane. The pilot was the last person to evacuate at 6.05pm local time...a full 18 minutes after landing.
So, while I appreciate the cabin crew remaining professional in doing its duty and keeping the passengers calm, there is a serious question about taking 10-18 minutes to make a decision to exit a burning plane. What's the point of a 90s evacuation certification if the protocols for taking that decision to evacuate becomes the bottleneck?
Other things worth investigating:
- The Coast Guard plane had entered the runway and was there for a full 40 seconds. Its lights can be seen in the CCTV footage. Yet, the ATC had no clue about it.
- The pilots of the JAL claim they did not see the Dash-8. I can understand they did not see it while approaching but it doesn't mention if they saw the plane at the last moment or not. In the latter case, how is it possible for pilots to not even know a whole goddamn plane is on the runway? due to the nose pitch? too busy looking at instruments?
- Were the other planes that were holding short of the runway see the Dash-8 and also hear conversations of Tower and JAL? if so, pilots should be encouraged to speak up rather than think it will leave them embarrassed telling the tower what should be obvious.
The video having the details: