Pre-Approve Passengers for Exit Row Seating
Airlines should qualify, through training and physical assessment, passengers able to occupy exit row seats and then flag them on reservation systems.
I’ve seen this discussion pop up occasionally in the chat forums, but I’ve never seen or heard any airline comment on such a proposal.
It struck home to me the importance of having capable and alert people in the exit rows when I was sitting next to a dear old lady who simply nodded in wide-eyed agreement, mouth agape, when the flight crew asked her “Will you be able to assist in the event of an emergency?â€
Now I know there are rules about seating able-bodied passengers in exit rows and giving them a special briefing before take-off, but I’d like to take this one step further.
I’m suggesting that passengers be invited to take part in emergency exit drills which form a part of regular cabin crew training. Airlines will naturally have final say on who takes part and whether the passengers have completed the drill and exercises successfully. These passengers, say initially drawn from Frequent Flyer ranks, would then be designated “Exit Row Approved†or ERA (Don’t you like that acronym?)
These passengers would then be automatically designated to exit rows and airlines can take some comfort in knowing that passengers in those seats are better prepared than just John or Jane Random if it all goes pear-shaped.
Just charging for the privilege of an exit row seat is not in the interests of safety and I suggest that ERA passengers are never charged either.
Let me address some possible objections:
• An al-Qaeda operative completes an ERA course and opens a door mid-flight.
Aircraft doors cannot open mid-flight because of positive cabin pressure. They are designed that way.
•
Have you ever seen 800 passengers try to get out of an A380 in under 90 secs?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gqWeJGwV_U&NR=1
It only takes one passenger to balls it up and create a ‘dogpile’. You don’t want that one to be seated in an exit row!
Examples: (Google them)
• TWA Flight 843
• Air Canada Flight 797
• One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269
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