Flight Attendant Current
Distraction; Situational Awareness; Confusion; Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Procedure; Human Factors
I was in charge of briefing the passengers in seats the Exit Row. I approached passenger in the row and asked that he review his safety card and that after his review I would ask him a question. He could not understand what I said to him. I continued trying to explain using hand signals etc. After several minutes I got the Purser. I was going to move the passenger but Purser spoke limited Spanish and got him to understand a little what we were trying to convey. I understand we are not supposed to deny passengers who do not speak English the right to sit in the exit row and it is written in several languages on the safety card but I do not agree. He could not understand me. How will he understand me any better when I am shouting out commands? How can he understand me when I am stuck in my jumpseat and shouting at him to get me out of my seat open the door etc. How can he understand when other English speaking people are asking him to help them? I agree that people who speak other languages should be able to sit in the exit row but one of those languages must be English. We do not allow any other language in the cockpit why would we allow it anywhere else where safety is a concern. Passenger must be able to understand the flight attendant's instructions clearly and be able to say yes clearly.
A B757 Flight Attendant reported that a non English speaking passenger was allowed to sit in an emergency exit row when he did not understand the questions regarding emergency exit operations.