RyanAir procedures

[EHM-0654 Murray]

If anyone works for RyanAir, or has friends/relatives that do, I have a really simple procedural question I'd like answering (and no, I haven't tried Google yet, that'll come once I finish this post). Why do they insist on the window blinds being open for take-off and landing?

[xzornixz]

Scandinavian does the same, their reason being the ability for the flight attendant to see outside in case of fire during taxi, takeoff and landing

[EHM-2387 Eric-Jan]

Punched the question through to one of my flying buddies, who has recently joined the Ryanair staff as F.O.
I expect xzornixz is right, but I'll let you know the response when it comes.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

This may be less uncommon than it sems, our national carrier Tarom always did so as well

Andrei

[EHM-1465 Dominic]

There have certainly been cases in the past when it made a huge difference to the outcome of an accident whether the flight crew knew about a fire and indeed what side of the aircraft it was on to turn accordingly if they stopped on the ground so I'd guess it's a rule that grew from those incidents

[EHM-2387 Eric-Jan]

My friend just answered that it is a combination of the "extra eyes and ears" for the flight crew (remember the 737 engine fire at EMA, the pilots shut down the wrong engine), should something go haywire during taxi or t.o. / landing, and the fact that this way, the difference in light level between inside and outside is minimised. That is also why the lights dim for taxi in the dark. Should the need to evacuate arise, then people don't have to jump into a black hole to slide down the chute.
To the best of his knowledge, this is mandatory now for all airlines.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Many, many thanks EJ. Just the answer I was looking for (and kinda expecting).