Row Developing Over an Exit Issue : CONSUMER: Row Over Exit Issue : Safety: Domestic airlines will soon begin assigning exit-row seats only to designated passengers deemed physically and mentally capable in an emergency. Disabled groups are unhappy.

Come next fall, don’t be surprised if a flight attendant asks you if you are willing and able to open exit doors and windows in case of an emergency.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a rule effective Oct. 5 that will require domestic airlines to restrict seats in exit rows to passengers who have been designated by a flight attendant as capable of handling this responsibility. Passengers, however, can decline and will be given different seats.

With evacuation time crucial to survival after an accident, the rationale is that exits must be opened quickly and properly.

Airlines, meanwhile, have to train their personnel to make a decision on passenger capabilities. New manuals, as well as seat-back information cards, will likely be prepared for these exit-row seats.

The FAA expects passengers to be questioned after being seated aboard the plane, not at check-in or at the boarding gate.

The new rule applies to all U.S. airlines except unscheduled air taxis with nine or fewer passenger seats.

“Passengers will be asked a series of questions by the flight attendants on how familiar they are with the safety equipment and will receive some basic instruction on using the exits,” Sara Dornacker, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, said.

Not everyone is happy with the new rule.

Disabled groups believe that the rule bars them from sitting in exit-row seats.

Other passengers who may find themselves sitting farther from exits are the elderly, the obese, parents with young children and children traveling alone. Non-English-speaking passengers might also be affected.

“This could lead to some bad feelings between passengers and flight attendants,” said Yvonne Nau, a spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Disabled Exchange, a Los Angeles-based trade group.

Airlines, however, take a different view.

“We already have computerized pre-boarding controls restricting which passengers sit in exit rows,” Dornacker said.

“Passengers who require special handling, which can cover the blind and physically impaired as well as unaccompanied minors, aren’t put in exit-row seats. This system has worked very well.”

Although the measure’s potential for disputes and hurt feelings over who is and isn’t competent to open airplane exits is considerable, the FAA believes that the safety of all passengers will be potentially improved.

Fire or toxic fumes spread in seconds, and survival time involving a fire after a crash may be as short as 30 seconds, according to the FAA. Moreover, crew members are not always in position to handle the opening of exits.

Under the new FAA rule, exit-row passengers must be able to find the door/window and be able to follow instructions for using it. Not all exit doors and windows are the same on the various carriers.

Also, doors are often heavy and hard to manipulate, which may rule out a good number of passengers.

Passengers in these seats will have to be able to get around obstacles to open the exit, and then go quickly through it to avoid creating a traffic jam.

The exit-row passengers also have to be able to determine when to open the exit. There might be fire on the wing and other hazards outside the exit such as jagged metal, ice or water.

In some instances, these passengers might also be called on to help others get out of the plane.

And exit-row passengers have to be able to devote full attention to the emergency. This condition may rule out those traveling with small children.

On another safety issue, the FAA is considering whether parents flying with infants should be required to put their children in restraint seats, with the likelihood that they would have to pay extra for their children.

Or, should the airlines be required to supply free such child-restraint seats on request?

Another consideration is whether the use of child-restraint seats should be made optional, with the proviso that airlines have to accept their use once a separate ticket is bought for the child.

While looking for general input from the public, the FAA is only proposing at this point that carriers be required to allow the use of child-restraint seats when passengers provide the units and pay, if necessary, for an extra seat. Most, but not all, airlines have implemented this rule.

Send your comments on the subject of airline child-restraint seats by May 30 to the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of the Chief Counsel, Docket 26142, 800 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.