Welcome to my Inflight Safety page. Here you can learn how to increase your awareness of inflight safety whenever you're on an aircraft. It's a fact that those who know what to do in an emergency have a greater than average chance of surviving a survivable accident. So why not help yourself by reading on... Whether you're a frequent flyer, or board an aircraft once in a blue moon, you should always take responsibility for your own safety. This means taking the time to pay attention to the safety demonstration and to read the safety instructions card, which you'll always find in your seat area. Why is this so important? Because if you found yourself in an emergency, relying on the crew telling you what to do may be leaving it too late. Even if you may travel regularly, it doesn't mean that you don't need to take heed of the information given to you during the pre-flight safety demonstration - never be complacent. Every aircraft is different: emergency exits are located in different places and operate differently. In a dark, smoke-filled cabin, would you be able to find your way to your nearest exit before smoke-inhalation caused you to pass out? It's happened to well-travelled passengers in the past...with fatal results. ------------------------------------------------------------- My first recommendation to anyone travelling on an aircraft is to establish: •Where you're sitting in relation to your nearest exits; are there exits behind you which are nearer? How many seat-rows is it to your nearest exit? •How do those exits operate? The safety instructions card, will provide details of their operation; if in an accident the crew member was incapacitated, could you open the door yourself? Remember, not all doors open outwards, some open upwards or downwards. The emergency lights may have failed - you may be doing this in complete darkness. •Are there any self-help exits near you? These exits are usually overwing hatches and it is up to the passengers sitting adjacent to them to operate them in an emergency; they are quite heavy and cumbersome and have to be thrown out and forward - the evacuation path is off the rear of the wing. Because of this, there are rules governing what type of passenger may be seated there. They must not be: elderly, handicapped, pregnant, obese, a child or a deportee under escort. Handbaggage at these exits should be placed in the overhead locker; only very small items, unlikely to cause an obstruction in an accident, may be placed under the seat in front. As soon as the aircraft begins to move, an instruction is given over the public address system to the crew to: 'arm doors' or 'set doors to automatic'. What the crew are doing is placing the door into a special emergency-only mode. Should the door be subsequently opened, a chute will deploy and inflate. ------------------------------------------------------------- Preflight Safety Demonstration After the crew have armed their doors, they will begin the safety demonstration. Let's look at what they tell you and why. First they will point out the safety instruction card. It relies on symbols to explain various safety aspects specific to that aircraft, so it won't matter whether you speak the local language or not - you should be able to understand the information it contains. Next you will be given a demonstration of how the seatbelt operates. Statistics have shown that in accidents, many passengers have wasted time initially looking for the seatbelt catch somewhere at their side, because a car seatbelt is the one most people are used to. Even for those who are very familiar with aircraft seatbelts, there have been documented cases where passengers have delayed evacuating because the buckle had turned so that the catch was against their stomach. In the dark, they were unable to ascertain this - at this point, panic could easily set in if your life is in danger. It should be pointed out that for reasons of safety, the catch must be lifted greater than ninety degrees in order to unfasten. Releasing the seatbelt has to be a positive action. The crew will next point out all the exits on the aircraft. They do this, because in many accidents survivors, dazed and disorientated, have been known to head towards the exit they boarded the aircraft by, even if it is considerably further than their nearest exit. If you did this in a smoke-filled cabin, it could seriously decrease your chances of survival. Knowing where your nearest exit is and how it operates also helps to reduce the likelihood of suffering negative panic, or behavioural inaction. This usually occurs in sudden accidents on or near the ground where passengers remain in their seats, in shock. If you know where to go and how to get out, you are far less likely to be a victim of this phenomenon. It ought to be stressed at this point, that statistics of aircraft accidents over the past decade indicate that over 70% of accidents occur on take-off or landing - the most critical part of the flight. ------------------------------------------------------------- Brace Position The safety demonstration varies from airline to airline and so does the 'brace position'. This is the position you should adopt, should the aircraft have to make an emergency landing. In the UK, a new brace position was made law in 1994; that is to say that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) required all British civil airlines to illustrate this position both on safety videos and cards. If the aircraft is about to make an emergency landing, adopt the brace position, and stay there until the aircraft comes to a complete stop - there may be more than one jolt. The cabin crew should call you towards their doors, but if they don't, make your evacuation immediately if you believe it is a catastrophic (i.e. life-threatening) situation. However, even in an emergency, don't attempt to open aircraft doors while the aircraft is still moving or to evacuate until the engines have been shut down. This is highly dangerous and could result in the loss of life. ------------------------------------------------------------- Fire / Smoke Back to the safety demonstration and the crew will point out floor or seat-mounted emergency lighting. This low-level lighting automatically illuminates if the aircraft power fails. White lights indicate the escape path and either red lights or strobe lights indicate exits. If there is a fire on board, the crew have BCF (halon) fire extinguishers to fight it. Should the source remain unidentified or the fire become out of control, an immediate emergency descent will be made. If smoke invades the cabin, since it rises, it is best to put your head as low down as you can (get into something like the brace position). Use headrest covers, pillow cases, or any material to cover your mouth - it works better if it's wet and keep your eyes closed. Keep as low down as you can until the aircraft has landed. Remember to memorise the position of your nearest exit - how many seat rows will you have to crawl past to find it? Passengers in the front cabin of any 747, or the front half of a 747-300/400 upper deck cabin will have to go back to locate their nearest exits - there are no exits forward from those seat positions. It is wise to remember that it is smoke inhalation, not burns, that causes most deaths in a fire. ------------------------------------------------------------- Decompression The next item on the safety demonstration agenda is the subject of decompression or depressurisation. If for any reason the pressurisation system fails, or a break occurs in the aircraft structure, the result will be a decompression. A slow decompression may occur where, for example, a door seal fails, resulting in a gradual rise in cabin altitude and a decrease in cabin temperature (the external temperature at cruising altitude is over minus fifty degrees Celsius). If a rapid decompression occurs, the sudden equalisation of air pressure causes the cabin air to condense, which results in a temporary misting effect. Gases in the body will vent, although a blocked nose from a cold or hay fever may prevent the ears from clearing, causing ear-ache and in severe cases, may result in perforated ear-drums. Any loose objects in the cabin will fly around and if there is a hole in the fuselage (for example a broken window), objects will initially be sucked towards it. This is one of the reasons why the crew, during the safety demonstration, suggest that you should keep your seatbelt fastened whenever in your seat (the other being an unexpected encounter with clear air turbulence, where aircraft have been known to drop hundreds of feet in seconds). Amongst those decompressions caused by failures in the fuselage, there are two catalogued in which passenger's lives were saved due to the 'Fasten Seatbelt' signs having been illuminated at the time. If the cabin altitude reaches 14,000ft., masks automatically drop, usually from compartments above your head. Often, the masks just dangle above the head initially, and it is the pulling action to make it reach your face which sets off the oxygen supply. In a rapid decompression, you may only have twenty seconds of useful consciousness (i.e. when you are still able to think clearly); you may remain conscious for some time after, but will be unable to think or co-ordinate properly. This is usually accompanied by a feeling of euphoria - a typical sign of oxygen starvation to the brain. If you are standing, sit down immediately, strap in and grab a mask. If the masks above you don't drop, there are spare masks at most other seat rows - grab one from an adjacent row, they will reach. There have been many cases of passengers failing to take a decompression seriously and not put on a mask, especially when it's a slow one, and have become quite severely hypoxic. The next thing that will become obvious in a decompression is the steep angle of the emergency descent that the flight crew will have instituted. They will be taking the aircraft down to a level at which it is possible to breathe without the need for emergency oxygen (usually 10,000ft or the minimum safe altitude, which is around 4,000ft higher than the terrain). The descent will be a little rough, as the flight crew will make full use of the speed brakes - this allows them to point the nose towards the ground without the aircraft speed accelerating unduly. Only when the aircraft has levelled out will the cabin crew begin to move around the cabin, checking on the passengers. They may wear portable oxygen bottles, in case the aircraft is still above 10,000ft due to high terrain below. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ditching The last item on the safety demonstration agenda is usually the lifejacket, or lifevest. Statistically, a ditching (landing on water) is most likely to happen on or near the airfield. Small aircraft with overwing exits (like the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320) do not have slides that can hold the occupants of the aircraft. The primary evacuation route is therefore onto the wing, where you should sit down in rows with your legs wrapped around the person in front (scissor-like). This makes you, as a group, more stable than if you sit individually, and you can also share body warmth. Larger aircraft have slides which can be used as a buoyancy device, so that everyone evacuates onto them and the crew will then detach them from the aircraft. Longhaul aircraft have slides which convert to rafts, with canopies to afford protection from the elements Don't inflate your lifejacket until you leave the aircraft, an inflated lifejacket may hamper your evacuation, and may get caught on debris inside the aircraft and deflate. Some airlines may not provide lifejackets, in which case, the seat cushion may be used as a flotation aid. If you end up in the water, try to swim to other people near you and huddle together to share body warmth.. Make an attempt to reach the sliderafts if you can - they have boarding points at each end, and lifelines along each side. ------------------------------------------------------------- In summary: In the event of an emergency evacuation: •Know where your exits are •Know how to operate them •Know how to unfasten your seat belt •Know how to brace properly If there is smoke in the aircraft cabin: •Keep your head down •Use some fabric, preferably wet, over your nose and mouth •Keep your eyes closed In a decompression: •If you are standing, sit down and strap in •Grab a mask and pull it to your face •Stay in your seat In a ditching: •Know which are your primary evacuation routes for a ditching •Don't inflate your lifejacket until you leave •Stay together and try to remain as dry as possible •If you're in the water, try to swim to others and huddle together I hope that I haven't put you off flying. Remember, whenever you fly, always watch the safety demonstration and read the safety instruction card. It's done for your benefit and it may save your life. ------------------------------------------------------------- About the Author - Anna Damski I first entered the aviation industry in 1983 when I joined British Airways as Cabin Crew. During my induction course, I was taught safety drills and procedures and basic surival principles, subjects which were refreshed annually thereafter.I flew for seven years on both shorthaul and longhaul routes, on Tridents, TriStars (L10-11s) and Boeing 737s, 747s & 757s. In all that time, on all those aircraft, I never had anything even remotely approaching an emergency -- but I was always prepared, just in case!
Following the birth of my daughter, I decided to stop flying and took a job in the BA Training Centre at Heathrow, instructing Flight & Cabin Crew in safety and emergency procedures. After eight years in that position, I acknowledge that whilst I am not an expert, I feel able to impart basic advice on safety issues in flying. I left BA in early 1999 and have since been pursuing a career as an independent training consultant.
I have written this not as a definitive paper on surviving aircraft accidents, but more as a set of guidelines to raise your level of awareness when flying, in the hope that in the unlikely event you should be confronted with an emergency situation, you will know how best to act to increase your chances of surviving.
Disclaimer: This is my own work and is not meant to be read as the recommendations of my former employer, British Airways. ------------------------------------------------------------- Back to main Inflight Safety page