Originally Posted by
jwillett13
At one company I worked for on the 727, the f/o was supposed to exit the most rear-ward exit. Usually the aft airstairs. It made absoutely no sense, the f/o has to climb over the f/e and then go aft rather than going out his window exit.
The logic behind that is that the FO goes through the entire cabin and ensures everyone else is off the aircraft before leaving himself.
Similar reason why the pilot's hat is on the checklist for emergency evacuation together with assorted survival gear, even though it seems quite ridiculous on the face of it. It identifies the pilots easily as people in authority and usually people just want someone to give them instructions to follow.