Most of us are anxious flyers but when we’re on a plane, we
tend to pay little attention to the pre-takeoff emergency demonstration and almost
never read the safety information card in the seat back pocket in front of us. This is probably because we assume that if
something goes seriously wrong, we’ll know from all the times we did pay
attention to the safety demos in the past.
Most of the time my reasoning is that if something does go wrong, it
will be a catastrophe beyond my control and there will be little I can do! How about you?
We’ve been shrugging off our safety duties as passengers. Moreover, we’ve been totally misinformed about
the chances of surviving one of those unthinkable catastrophes. A 2001 NTSB
study showed that, based on plane accidents between 1983 & 2000, 51,207 of
the 53,487 passengers involved survived. That is 95.7 %.
The odds look like they’re highly in our favor, but we shouldn’t get
lazy when it comes to the rules.
Most of us have a tendency to “zone out” during the safety
instructions ( I know I do). I think “how many times do I have to watch the
same safety demonstration or video? We all know how to buckle our seatbelt, and
we understand that when the mask drops down we’re supposed to put it on before
we assist others”. I think, for the most
part, people are just plain bored by these demos. Some airlines have made these videos fun and
comedic but most feel this is not the right approach because the public may not
take these seriously.
The information safety card is required by the FAA to be
included in all seat back pockets. This
is critical as it contains guidelines and details specific to the aircraft you’re
on. It shows where the exits are and how
to open the window exit. In a nutshell, if you don’t read the information card,
you may not know what to do and it can be intimidating.
We should also take the time to acknowledge the mask and
reach down underneath our seat to make sure we know where the life jacket
is. That way, in the rare case of an
emergency, we know exactly where to find it and can follow procedures confidently.
To most of us, flight attendants may seem like the wait
staff of the sky, but they are actually professionals trained to perform a
range of medical tasks- from basic CPR to delivering a baby. Also, they know all the ins and outs of the
plane and receive annual training on safety. In addition, they have to know how
to deploy a raft, which is very challenging, and how to collect water and put
up a canopy in case you are not rescued immediately.
The point is that flight attendants could well be your
in-flight superheroes. I guess we should
remember that we we’re annoyed that the beverage cart is coming down the aisle
too slowly and we’re trying to get to the bathroom or back to our seat.
Most of us fasten our seatbelts when the light alerting us to
do so is on, but we should keep our seatbelts fastened the whole time we’re seated.
In instances of rapid decompression, which causes an unplanned drop in the
aircraft cabin, people are saved because they have their seatbelt on.
It is extremely important be completely alert and not freak
out if something goes wrong in the air.
This means you should stay sober and not drink too much on a flight. In
fact, flight attendants are trained to “cut you off” when you’ve had too much,
but you shouldn’t ever get to that point. Stay sober so, if an emergency
happens, you can follow all commands coherently.
Don’t be a hero. In
most emergency situations it is recommended that you don’t do anything other
than stay seated unless the flight crew asks you otherwise. Trying to be of service
can interfere with the people trained to help and distract passengers from
important messages.
While flight attendants want us to sit back and relax, we
may want to keep our shoes on and laced. God
forbid you would have evacuate down a slide or run from a burning aircraft –
you will want to be in shoes that allow you to run – you don’t want to be in flip-flops
or barefoot. Sneakers are smart and also
comfortable.
Lastly, it is highly inadvisable to get on your laptop or
phone during an emergency. In an emergency you need to be listening for any
information from the flight crew with any distractions. This means you need to keep your laptop and
other personal items stowed because that could impede an evacuation where time
is really of the essence.
