A plane crashed today...and you STILL won't watch the safety demo?

[AirHostess]

You've probably all heard about the plane crash.

Still, half my passengers today ignored the safety demo, despite most of them having newspapers with the plane on the front page!



They still don't get that as a flight attendant I am there for their safety and have been through an intensive training course. I even had a woman argue with me over putting her bag up in the overhead locker as she was sat by the overwing exits. I was quite pissed off so I pointed out the front page of her tabloid newspaper and sweetly reminded her that if WE ditched on water people would need to get out through that exit and her bag could hamper their escapes. She soon popped her bag up!

[tollbaby]

In the passengers' defense.... I've seen that bloody safety demo probably about 30 times. I could give it myself at this point. I don't really feel the need to pay attention to it anymore.

[AnaKhouri]

I don't fly often enough to have memorized it, so I always pay attention. Who knows what's been updated in the past couple years? Maybe those people were businesspeople who fly all the time, but I think it is common courtesy to at least pretend to pay attention when someone is trying to tell you something.

[AirHostess]

In the passengers' defense.... I've seen that bloody safety demo probably about 30 times. I could give it myself at this point. I don't really feel the need to pay attention to it anymore.

The thing is...every airplane is different. Doors, lifejackets, exits, oxygen masks etc Also procedures do change.

It is always vitally important to know where your nearest exit is and count the seat rows to it as in the dark/smoke you may not be able to find it. In a ditching like the A320 today passengers need to go to the overwings...again, all explained in the demo.

As a flight attendant I would advise all passengers to pay regard to the demo. As crew I always pay attention, even as a simple courtesy to the crew, it is very disheartening to see a sea of newspapers when no-one is watching.

And I always find the lifejacket situation mildy amusing when people moan about what good they would be in a crash. Ethopian Airlines 961 ditched after being hijacked in 1996. Many passengers did survive the impact but in the panic inflated their lifejackets in the plane which we always tell them they musn't do in the demo. These unfortunates were unable to escape and drowned slowly as the water in the plane rose, they got stuck inside as the fuselage sunk and they all drowned.

[JoitheArtist]

I always fly Southwest, so I'm completely familiar with the safety demo at this point. However, if the flight crew makes the slightest attempt to spice up the demo (which the Southwest crew often does) i will look up from whatever I'm reading to give it my attention. Hey, if they're giving some extra effort, so can I.

but I also always make sure my bags are stowed, my belt is buckled, my tray table up, and my seat is in the full upright position.

[Lingering Grin]

To be honest, I "watch" it, as in, my eyes are usually looking in the direction of the flight attendant.

but really, I'm not paying that much attention.

I usually sit in the emergency exit row... so I don't have to count seats, and I know how a seat belt works... sooo...

sorry, the seat belt thing always makes me giggle. "To fasten your seat belt, please insert the metal prong into the clip and pull tightly."

REALLY!? I NEVER would have guessed that

I always thought it should be more like "If you don't know how to use a seat belt at this point in your life... Good luck!" and then the flight attendant runs away to the back cabin

[AirHostess]

sorry, the seat belt thing always makes me giggle. "To fasten your seat belt, please insert the metal prong into the clip and pull tightly."

REALLY!? I NEVER would have guessed that

I always thought it should be more like "If you don't know how to use a seat belt at this point in your life... Good luck!" and then the flight attendant runs away to the back cabin

It's because in a crash many people will become confused and revert to trying to unfasten their seatbelt like their car set belt. In a crash with fire...every seconds counts. Also it needs to be really tight around your stomach to minimise injury.

Also it's important not to underestimate small things. In the Kegworth crash of 1989 many passengers were unable to escape as they had clutched their fingers together when they braced...leading to broken hands when the overhead lockers collapsed and they were unable to exit the plane as they couldn't undo their belts. That's why the brace position shows you not to interlock fingers.

In a PLANNED emergency landing we would do a demo pointing out exits again, making passengers show us the brace postion etc I really hope people would pay attention to this.

[crazylegs]

Also it's important not to underestimate small things. In the Kegworth crash of 1989 many passengers were unable to escape as they had clutched their fingers together when they braced...leading to broken hands when the overhead lockers collapsed and they were unable to exit the plane as they couldn't undo their belts. That's why the brace position shows you not to interlock fingers.

I never knew that, and I always though I'd paid attention to the lesson. I guess I *do* learn something every day!

[lordlundar]

Any tensing up of the body during a collision causes more injury. The reason is that a loose object can bend a flex more than a rigid one. A 2x4 of rubber being more flexible than a 2x4 of wood for example, the wood would break a lot easier than the rubber.

I wonder if that's why alchohol is allowed on an airplane.

[Lingering Grin]

I wonder if that's why alchohol is allowed on an airplane.

No that's to keep people like me from screaming every time the plane hit's an air pocket.

[AirHostess]

I never knew that, and I always though I'd paid attention to the lesson. I guess I *do* learn something every day!

Well now you know It would kind of suck to survive impact and then be unable to escape. 90% of crashes are survivable. Many people survive and then don't escape before fire/smoke gets them.

[LibraryLady]

I'll be honest here. I carefully read the card in my seat pocket and I listen closely when the Flight Attendant shows where the exits are. I reach under my seat to find the straps that can make the seat a 'Flotation device". Otherwise, I tune out. I know how to fasten and release a seat belt. I know what to do when the oxygen masks fall. Been there, done that. I've also been in situations in which I must take off my glasses, take off my shoes and assume the position for impact. This was in the Rocky Mountains en route from Denver to Las Vegas.

I agree that every type of plane is different but in some ways, they're all the same. People who fly a lot may think they know it all. In some cases they may. In most cases they don't. At least reading the card and paying attention when the Flight Attendant shows the exits is a good idea.

I've flown in everything from a jumbo Jet to a Piper Cub. On one memorable flight from Curacao to Bonaire I remember the pilot sticking his head into the cabin and asking, "Would some of you larger men mind moving to the front of the plane? We're having a problem balancing the weight." I've also been on flights in which both you and your luggage are weighed.

When I tell those stories to people at work I can see some of them become green around the gills. They shouldn't. Flying, especially in small planes can be a wonderful adventure. I love it and, just as safety at sea is the most important thing on a ship, safety in the air is the most important thing on a plane. I have no problem with that.

[Crosshair]

I think more people would listen to the safety lecture if they did it "George Carlin Style". Break up the monotony of the day. Though it would probably stress out the already up tight people.

The safety lecture continues. "In the unlikely event . ." This is a very suspect phrase, especially coming as it does from an industry that is willing to lie about arrival and departure times. "In the unlikely event of a sudden change in cabin pressure"--ROOF FLIES OFF! " . . An oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. Place the mask over your face and breathe normally." Well, I have no problem with that. I always breathe normally when I'm in a 600 mile an hour uncontrolled vertical dive.......

They tell you to adjust YOUR oxygen mask before helping your child with his. I did not need to be told that. In fact, I'm probably going to be too busy screaming to help him at all. This will be a good time for him to learn self-reliance. If he can program his **** VCR, he could ****, jolly-well learn to adjust an oxygen mask. Fairly simple thing, just a little rubber band in the back is all it is. Not nearly as complicated as say, for instance, a seatbelt.

[Peppergirl]

I think more people would listen to the safety lecture if they did it "George Carlin Style". Break up the monotony of the day. Though it would probably stress out the already up tight people.

Southwest airlines flt attendants try to inject some humor into the routine, sometimes. Some of them I've found amusing, but some of them annoyed me.

I will admit that when they attempt to amuse me or change up the routine a bit, I pay better attention. I really do try, but I'm hopelessly ADD, so it's a struggle.

[nomorecarts]

The thing is...every airplane is different. Doors, lifejackets, exits, oxygen masks etc Also procedures do change.

does the bag inflate now?

I haven't been able to read this type of thread without laughing since I saw that episode of family guy where the plane starts going down and the passenger starts giving the speech again