Was This A Violation re Exit Row Rules
 

Short version: Pax who neither speaks nor understands English is seated in exit row. Is this a violation?

Long Version:

On a short hop yesterday aboard a 717. I was in an exit row in seat 20b. There were Delta FA's in 19b, 19c, 20c & 21b. So, lotsa expertise at handling emergencies if one should arise.

The flight was full and 2 standby passengers come on board just before door is closed. One of the remaining seats was 21D (middle seat exit row).

The on duty FA comes by and asks the late arriving passenger if he realizes he is in an exit row and is willing and able to perform the necessary duties. The guy just looks at the FA with a quizzical look. So, he repeats the question and it then becomes apparent he doesn't speak English. They determine he speaks Portuguese. The FA who was questioning the gentleman walks back to the galley...presumably to figure out what to do...maybe to find a pax willing to switch(?)

While he is back there, the FA in 20C, a Spanish speaker who, as it turns out, can speak a bit of Portuguese, turns to the young man and asks him if he is willing to sit in an exit row. He agrees to do so. The FA in 20C then gets the attention of the on duty FA and gives him a thumbs up indicating everything was good to go.

We button up and have an uneventful ~40 minute flight.

Now, if ever there was a flight in which the exit rows were capably manned, this was it. 4 of the 6 over wing seating sections had an FA. But, this section (21C-21E) with the non-english speaker wasn't one of them. While clearly he was physically capable of performing the task (he was a young, athletic looking guy with a skateboard as his carry-on), and presumably could have deciphered the graphical display of how to remove the window/door. However, he clearly could not understand crew instructions or give oral instructions to deplaning pax in an emergency.

So, was this a technical violation of the exit row seating?

FTR, I only want information. I'm not reporting it to anyone or complaining.

Yes it was a technical violation.

But I think we've all seen people that look like they would have trouble lifting a gallon of milk much less an airplane door in the exit row.

I would like to think of it more as a testament to how safe air travel has become overall. If the FA's thought there was a more than .0000001% chance of an incident for any given flight I bet you would see a lot of different people in exit rows.

As in they are no longer preferred seats for Medallions but always assigned at the gate by the GA who can "size someone up" to see how fit someone actually is.

When you try to select an exit row seat, here's what Delta says (emphasis added):

Clearly this is not what DL wants with respect to pax sitting in in exit row. That being said, I think I'd rather have a non-English-speaking passenger who is fully capable than someone who looks like they would be unable to lift a feather.

There's no time to get a translator in an emergency and tell the guy what he needs to do. That makes him just as much in the way as a person who you think cannot lift a feather.

Notice how English is pretty much required 1 & 2 on the list

These rules are binary and they are carefully thought through. There is always close to a nil possibility that a passenger will be called on to assist crew with an emergency exit door, but it's not nil.

This isn't about the whiners who want miles because the thread count on the hot towels isn't high enough or because the FA only have them 2 ice cubes with their drink.

Every study ever done about safety shows that slavish adherence to the rules is what saves lives.

I would unhesitatingly report the violation to DL and to DOT. The FA doesn't need to be terminated, simply counseled.

If I am reading this right, the non-English speaking passenger was in row 21? This is not an exit row on the 717. The passengers responsible for opening the window exits are in rows 19 and 20.

Sounds like this passenger didn't select the emergency exit seat, so those rules wouldn't have done any good. OP said shortly before departing 2 standby passengers came on board, one of which was the non-English speaking passenger who was seated in the emergency row. Sounds like he was just sat there by the GA. So technically wouldn't he/she have been the one who should have confirmed they could speak and understand English?!

According to seatguru, exits rows are 19 ad 20 like Navig8R posted.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Del...Boeing_717.php

The rules are the same either way; DL puts the language on its website to try and head off any issues, but it is ultimately the flight attendants that should have removed the passenger from the exit row when it became clear he did not meet the exit row seating requirements. Yes, the GA could have proactively addressed the matter and reassigned seats, but the buck stops with the FAs.

You are reading correctly. The on duty FA asked all three rows the exit row questions. And, according to the DL seat map all 3 rows are designated as exit rows.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...0-seat-map.jpg

Thanks for all the responses. It's good to know the actual rules for future reference.

To give a little more detail...they thought they had a completely full flight. Apparently, a couple of checked in pax no-showed. So, when doing a seat count, they got the SBs on board. I heard the other SB pax say she was told to take whatever seat she could find. She went on further back.

Notwithstanding the rules violation, I was impressed that they went back to get the SB Pax when they saw they had two empty seats.

Was This A Violation re Exit Row Rules
 

Why I can't sit in the exit rows? How come? I just want to sit there. I have a long legs. They have more legroom.

The FAA requires the passengers to read and understand English. What if in an emergency the passengers don't understand other languages exiting the aircraft can be done with watching cues. If you see people going to the Exit then open it if needed. Who would be stupid enough to not know what to do.

The Exit is not some rocket science. In fact Airlines show the Emergency Film in different languages so why would this preclude someone who spoke French on Air France? Seems like an odd rule to me. In an Emergency who the hell has time to worry just open the damn exit and get out of there . Its not rocket science to know not to open the exit if you see smoke and if the slide does not inflate to pull the red handle.

Just my 2 cents.