Minx

Anyone else read this article in USA Today (Friday, November 3, 2000)?

Appears that the flight attendants panicked and couldn't show the passengers how to unlock escape hatches. Article goes on to say how the FAs were the first aboard the rescue buses. One passenger is going to sue the airline for negligence.

ozstamps

I think SQ attorneys will be rather busy.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/001270.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum88/HTML/000104.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/003628.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/001247.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum88/HTML/000101.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum88/HTML/000106.html

opus17

A couple of us were waiting to pick up a passenger on an SQ flight in Tokyo in April.

When the flight attendents came off the plane, my co-worker was remarking on how attractive they were (as we guys might be apt to do from time-to-time).

And I said that they didn't look like they would be much help in an emergency. Not that good looking, young, thin women are not capable, but the way they were dressed seemed quite impractical and didn't exactly make one confident in their abilities regarding handling an emergency.

[This message has been edited by opus17 (edited 11-04-2000).]

YVR Cockroach

[b]Supposedly[/i] the sarong has straps underneath that will allow the female FAs to pull up the sarong and turn them into shorts to give more freedom of movement. I saw supposedly.

FWIW, I wonder if this incident is a promotion for non-flammable/"cool burning" clothing such as pure wools and cottons. I tend to always wear clothes of these fabrics even when I don't fly.

ozstamps

My female partner (women notice these things!) when we last flew Thai a few months ago made a similar sort of comment.

The THAI female FA uniform in my view is the smartest I've seen. That shiny thick Thai silk, and the girls get to wear them in a myriad of colours and styles. But all are mostly long, and the skirts very tight. My friend said it would be impossible to jog even slowly in that, much less run.

And the girls are all about 5'4" and weigh about 3 pounds, so I have always wondered how they'd cope trying to wrestle open doors etc.

Hope I never need to find out like these poor souls on SQ did.

Law Lord

The Oregonian interviewed the two Oregonians on board the flight (all news is local!) who said much the same thing -- they helped get the other passengers off but had to push through FAs on board who were standing in shock, not doing anything. When they got to the rescue bus, other FAs were already on board, but without any pax.

ozstamps

I really feel sorry for all involved, pax and FA. However, we are constantly told FA's are "primarily there for our safety". It does make me wonder reading this.

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~ Glen ~

Gaucho100K

As mentioned, all news is local. Its strange to see all the Singapore papers not publish a single line about the comments and stories that are being given by several non Asian pax about the emergency performance of the FA's aboard SQ006. I know about a British pax and now these people from Oregon that have said the FA's acted in a questionable manner.

Im now in Singapore and have been reading all major papers for the past 2 days, and see no mention to these stories.


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Gaucho100K

ozstamps

There is still darn near press censorship there. A friend flew out yesterday and we had lunch. He is a Magazine publisher there and was naturally interested in this matter. (He flew SQ!) I could tell HIM more from reading these boards than he'd been able to access in SIN. Nuts.

Which airline you on Gaucho?

SJC2ISP

Perhaps people are too hard on the FAs. Here is a different perspective. http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/pri...ri10_1104.html
Quotes:

Madam Judy Ang Miau Noi, 31, an assistant manager, told The Straits Times: ""My sister's colleagues and other survivors said that Irene managed to escape, but she went back inside the plane to try and help the trapped passengers.

""But she did not make it outside alive.

""I know that, as always, she felt that, as a leading stewardess, it was her duty to save them. She sacrificed her life.''




I was not there and do not know the timeline, but I am unable to understand why the presence of the FAs on a rescue bus was such a big deal. Common sense dictates, that a signficant amount of time would have elapsed before a rescue bus would have been cleared to get to the accident area. I am quite sure that the emergency crew at the airport would have taken over the search and rescue operation by the time a bus to ferry survivors was lined up. Wonder whether the crew could have done much after the emergency services were there. After all the crew too had gone through the same trauma as everyone else and would have been under shock.

davistev

Point well taken. They too were victims. But I think the conversation regarding dress is well warranted.

fallinasleep

SJC2ISP, I really don't like this topic, so thanks for the different perspective...

I have seen men and women of various ages and sizes sitting in emergency exit rows. As these are the most attractive seats in coach due to the added legroom, I am sure that each row had at least one or two people by the door. Also, it may be airline policy to try to have a pax there (I'm not sure).

At the beginning of each flight, the safety drill specifically asks that pax who cannot handle the emergency door in an emergency move to another seat. Whenever I get on a plane, I always think about how I would open the emergency door if I had to, as I usually request an emergency-exit row seat.
If the SQ FAs didn't open the emergency doors, then ONE of these pax in the emergency exit row should have.

The average SQ FA is easily taller than 5'4" and I'm also confident that a lightweight can open and move those doors. I am not a big guy, and I am pretty certain I can open and toss that emergency door over the seat behind me if I had to. On a 747-400, I believe it is a matter of releasing a handle to get the exit door open -- process seamed easy to me the last time I checked. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting in that exit-row seat. It would be selfish and a risk to the rest of the plane pax in the case of an accident. I have a hard time believing that SQ does not test its FAs on this crucial skill.

I have no idea if the SQ FAs froze or not (I read an interview in which a pax said that sadly many pax froze in their seats as well), but I don't expect too many FAs to be really prepared in such a nightmare accident situation, so I think the general criticisms being directed at SQ FAs post tragedy are unfair. A lot happens in that split second that a plane crashes and it is human nature for people to panic or freeze. It is no excuse and of little consolation to the victims of this tragedy, but I doubt any airline can ever guarantee that its FAs will execute the evac plan properly in an emergency (what, are airlines supposed to begin pyschological testing on their potential hires).

On the subject of dress, I would rather have a woman who has worn a sarong comment on the SQ uniform, since I have really no clue other than my own observations. I have not been on an SQ flight for more than 10 years, but I have seen SQ FAs glide right past me at airports and hotel lobbies. It may be the best looking FA uniform in the business but that does not necessarily mean it restricts movement during an emergency.

Finally, I think the biggest problem is that an evacuation of the plane is NOT EASY. Even with seat backs in the upright position, the window-seat pax sitting has to jump over two other people to get to the aisle. It takes several minutes to deplane a 747-400 at the gate (granted this wasn't a full flight -- thank goodness). I don't even want to think about how difficult it would be in a darkened, burning cabin with pax screaming and running/pushing, even with more exit doors available.

EDITED FOR GRAMMAR

[This message has been edited by fallinasleep (edited 11-05-2000).]

Dub

Here's another "local" account. Chilling reading.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/wor...1102/wor13.htm

sbrower

All of life consists of choices. And most of them need to be made in advance, not in hindsight.

Assume, for the purpose of discussion, that the people on this flight would have been better served by a rule that limited SQ FA's to being males no less than 6"2" in height and no less than 200 pounds, with a minimum of three months training in emergency procedures.

Do you believe that passengers would have flown SQ in equal numbers over the past 40 years? Would they have been able to find an adequate number of such people in the Singaporan population?

I assure you that if I knew that my next flight was going to have a similar situation I would want the FA's to meet the criteria set forth above. I would also want 1/2 of the plane to be reserved for various fire fighting and safety equipment. And I wouldn't mind if the fare was triple. But, since air travel is *relatively* safe, I make my choices based more on relative comfort, efficiency and cost, and less on whether the FA's are large enough to open the emergency exits.

[This message has been edited by sbrower (edited 11-05-2000).]

Westcoaster

terenz said:

"FWIW, I wonder if this incident is a promotion for non-flammable/"cool burning" clothing such as pure wools and cottons. I tend to always wear clothes of these fabrics even when I don't fly."

I wonder if the seatbelts could be made from a better fabric, too. One female passenger who was badly burned in the crash said she couldn't get out because her seatbelt melted on to her.