Originally Posted by
Kbboy
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?
You should watch this video. It lays out the timeline pretty clearly (turn on the translation if you are not proficient in Japanese). They time stamped the event on the screen so you can follow.
Took the crew about 4 minutes to assess the situation after the plane came to a stop with cabin crew reporting fire outside various exits. All the while, the cabin crew kept the passengers calm and focused with instruction to not retrieve luggage and to cover the face with shirt or mask. Orderly evacuation begin 6 minutes after collision and was completed in 90 seconds at roughly 7:35 after collision.
The cabin crew then spent the next 10 minutes doing cabin search in a burning plane. The Captain was the last one to leave from the rear exit 18 minutes after collision, which was the time JAL mentioned in the press conference.
Basically, textbook example of how you should do an emergency evacuation and excellent display of professionalism and call to duty.
You can second guess all you want but the crew were clearly following their checklist and training. The fire did not breach the cabin and while there was smoke, it wasn't overpowering. If they hastily opened all the doors and people jumped into fire and died, you probably would be here posting exactly the opposite why they didn't wait until they assessed the situation properly.
I think if there is anything to fault here is why the fire rescue was not able to contain the fire well after the evacuation was completed.