Narrative:

As flight attendant number 2; I was responsible for briefing the exit row passengers. When I went to brief the passenger in 20A he asked me to speak in spanish. He apparently did not speak any english. I asked the purser to help me out since he speaks spanish. According to the company we cannot move passengers from the exit row because they do not speak english. However as flight attendant number 2 I am responsible for window exits during an evacuation. While the passenger in 20A may be capable of opening the window; since he does not speak english he would not understand my commands to either evacuate or to remain seated. I cannot understand how this can be acceptable for safety purposes.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While attempting to brief the exit row passengers an A320 Flight Attendant discovers that the passenger in the 'A' seat does not speak English and the Company allegedly does not allow passengers to be moved for this reason.

Narrative: As Flight Attendant number 2; I was responsible for briefing the exit row passengers. When I went to brief the passenger in 20A he asked me to speak in Spanish. He apparently did not speak any English. I asked the purser to help me out since he speaks Spanish. According to the Company we cannot move passengers from the exit row because they do not speak English. However as Flight Attendant number 2 I am responsible for window exits during an evacuation. While the passenger in 20A may be capable of opening the window; since he does not speak English he would not understand my commands to either evacuate or to remain seated. I cannot understand how this can be acceptable for safety purposes.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.