What is the flight deck’s responsibility regarding evacuation?

• A. Decide whether to evacuate and issue the evacuation order; cabin crew execute it.
• B. Let cabin crew decide and operate without orders.
• C. Evacuation is optional and not ordered.
• D. Ground staff decide.

Answer: (A)

When an in-flight emergency requires evacuating, the authority to decide lies with the flight deck. The captain assesses the situation and determines whether an evacuation is necessary, then issues the evacuation order to the cabin crew. The cabin crew carry out that order, opening doors, deploying slides as needed, and guiding passengers to exits according to established procedures. The crew don’t initiate an evacuation on their own; they respond to the captain’s command and act under his or her authority. Ground staff aren’t involved in the in-flight decision and are not the ones to determine whether an evacuation should occur.