A B757 flight attendant reported that a non english speaking passenger was allowed to sit in an emer...

Narrative:

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.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: 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.

Narrative: 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.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1008778
Time
Date	201204
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown

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.