Can you imagine, for one minute, if that had been our typical International 777 F/A crew, of 75-85 year old cat ranchers?
Everyone would have died in the fire, because our Trolls would have been blocking the exits.
I was talking about this accident to a non-pilot businessman yesterday, he asked, "What is the mandatory retirement age for Flight Attendants?"
I laughed and then I pulled out my cell phone and showed him a picture of our Number One F/A, Bob, the 88 yr. old dead man walking. I explained how there IS NO MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR F/A's!
The guy was stunned. He couldn't believe we had F/A's still working at that age.
Where is the FAA when it comes to checking on the fitness of F/A's to do their jobs? They are only on board to EVACUATE the aircraft. Most of them can't even get out of their own way, after a smooth landing. Can you imagine if our typical 777 F/A crew survived this impact but then they had to evacuate the airplane?
I think the FAA really, really, needs to come up with some type of serious fitness test the F/A's should have to pass every year at recurrent training. Take a full body slam, then get up and help people get out of the airplane. Or at least make sure they can fit through an overwing exit without plugging it up!
