Pushing back with pax standing
 

Was in Y on EK850 today DOH-DXB. 18:15 departure on A330, boarding commenced at 17:55. Anyway, we commenced pushback whilst there was still a queue of pax in the aisle going to their seats and stowing hand baggage.

They also started the safety video at this point, so those standing missed it. Seemed to take ages for everyone to sit down and overheads to be closed.

Is this SOP? I was going to ask the Purser for a comments form but we disembarked via stairs at the back so didn't see her.

What if there had been a malfunction with pushback equipment or we'd had to stop quickly? Equally, commencing taxi with pax standing doesn't seem sensible to me.

Any thoughts?

Interesting! Can't think this would happen in the West.

Same happened when I was leaving Saudi (not EK) - there was no safety video. Quite liked it actually, less time wasted etc.

Going OT... You don't get a safety briefing on a train, so why on a plane? You're more likely to survive an initial crash on a train.

If someone survives the impact of an aircrash they are still at high risk due to fire and smoke inhalation as aircrafts carry a lot of fuel. In fact a majority of people who die in air accidents are victims of the same.(remember the Manchester Runway disaster)?)

Many lives could be saved if people can be evacuated quickly from an aircraft. In the case of a train or a bus crash the passenger is likely to be okay if they survive the initial impact. Obviously you do have the exceptions (train off a bridge /catching fire etc) but these are rare.