Airline safety briefing do you listen?

[R4_GRN]

As a regular flyer, both business and personal and also a private pilot I always listen to the cabin crews. I also see most passengers ignoring, talking, sleeping? Or reading the paper during the briefing. I gave a personal safety briefing to my friends when I flew with them, even if they had been flying with me before.

The best yet was two passengers sitting at the over wing exits on a BA flight who talked nonstop during the whole flight including the briefing. In case either look here Athens to Heathrow on BA 0641 Monday 6th June row 21

Surely the airlines have a duty to other passengers to ensure passengers sitting in safety critical seats should be made to listen to the briefing. If they had been asked the colour of the handle to deploy the safety slide I doubt if they knew where it was never mind the colour. I know it is the crews duty to open the door and deploy the slide but what if they became incapacitated? The airlines must recognise this or why instruct passengers in how to operate the slide.

Sent email th BA and got a reply that must have been written by a politician, neither acknowledged or answered the criticism

Do you listen to the briefing?

 

[telstarbox]

Yes, always, it takes 90 seconds and it could save my life.

 

[DaleCooper]

Yes, it might save your life, also out of courtesy to the person who gives the briefing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree, it's rude to talk through it. Though as I've heard the easyJet Airbus one approximately 250 times I don't think I'm likely to need to hear it again to actually learn what I'm required to do.

What I *do* pay attention to is things like number of rows to the exit, and remind myself how the buckle operates, as people have failed to get out by trying to use the seat belt like a car one.

 

[RichmondCommu]

I fly a lot with work and I'm afraid to say that I don't pay much attention to it. To be honest I would just follow what everyone else did and assume that they had paid attention. I also think that if there is a problem in the air there is every chance that I won't survive whether I paid attention or not.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Yes. After watching a TV prog, which interviewed a survivor of the Estonia ferry disaster. He said in effect "I didn't have any super survival techniques, I just paid attention to the safety instructions when I boarded and followed them when we got into trouble."
Also extends to looking down the corridors of hotels to check the fire escapes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I fly a lot with work and I'm afraid to say that I don't pay much attention to it. To be honest I would just follow what everyone else did and assume that they had paid attention. I also think that if there is a problem in the air there is every chance that I won't survive whether I paid attention or not.

This is a common view, but it's wrong. Most aircraft related incidents are survivable - there are very few mid-air disintegrations - they mostly happen on take-off and landing. But a good many involve fire, and as such getting out within 30 seconds makes a massive difference. So it really is worth having a plan to get out.

 

[DaleCooper]

This is a common view, but it's wrong. Most aircraft related incidents are survivable - there are very few mid-air disintegrations - they mostly happen on take-off and landing. But a good many involve fire, and as such getting out within 30 seconds makes a massive difference. So it really is worth having a plan to get out.

Also the oxygen mask instructions, it wouldn't be very clever if the plane landed safely but with an asphyxiated passenger.

 

[Howardh]

What I'd really like to do is have a go at getting the life jacket out from below my seat. Er, is it my seat or the one in front of me? No idea how easy or difficult that is, should be dead easy but still a worry!

 

[DaleCooper]

I couldn't find a clip from Airplane! but here's a still of the safety instructions from the film.

 

[Requeststop]

As a regular flyer, both business and personal and also a private pilot I always listen to the cabin crews. I also see most passengers ignoring, talking, sleeping? Or reading the paper during the briefing. I gave a personal safety briefing to my friends when I flew with them, even if they had been flying with me before.

The best yet was two passengers sitting at the over wing exits on a BA flight who talked nonstop during the whole flight including the briefing. In case either look here Athens to Heathrow on BA 0641 Monday 6th June row 21

Surely the airlines have a duty to other passengers to ensure passengers sitting in safety critical seats should be made to listen to the briefing. If they had been asked the colour of the handle to deploy the safety slide I doubt if they knew where it was never mind the colour. I know it is the crews duty to open the door and deploy the slide but what if they became incapacitated? The airlines must recognise this or why instruct passengers in how to operate the slide.

Sent email th BA and got a reply that must have been written by a politician, neither acknowledged or answered the criticism

Do you listen to the briefing?

Yes I do. 40+years of flying I still listen and watch the videos (these day). On some flights the crew watch you can you get better service from the flight crew. (extra booze f- or the dirty minded) What really gets me though is the people who are still texting and phoning through the briefing, and when the flight crew are doing their final check. Yesterday on a Thai flight KUL - BKK, people working their phones during the taxi-ing in spite of 3 or 4 announcements for them to switch off their phones and not to put their phones to flight mode. Why some people think they are exempt from the flight safety rules is beyond me.

 

[507021]

Although I haven't flown for a number of years, whenever I do fly I always make sure to listen to the safety announcement out of courtesy to the flight attendant(s) giving it, and also because it's critically important.

 

[jon0844]

I couldn't find a clip from Airplane! but here's a still of the safety instructions from the film.

And let's remember adopting crash positions...!

 

[DaleCooper]

The best safety advice I was given is to sit near the back of the plane. Have you ever heard of a plane reversing into a mountain?

And let's remember adopting crash positions...!

Get in crash position.

 

[me123]

Of course I listen. It does vary between aircraft, and whilst some of it is repetitive (and I can even lip-sync some of it) there is information that varies from flight to flight, like the location of the exits. I do it out of respect of the crew delivering the information. I do it because they need to know that I know the information. And I do it because, if something was to happen, I'd want the information to be fresh in my mind.

I think it is, at best, discourteous to ignore the safety briefing, and it's disheartening that so many people just read their newspapers and chat amongst themselves. I have only once seen a crew insist that passengers pay attention, on the now defunct Virgin Atlantic Little Red. I was sat next to two passengers (who turned out to be absolute morons based on the peurile conversation I had to listen to for an hour and a half) who insisted on talking through the safety briefing. The crew stopped the briefing and asked them to stop talking. When they ignored this request, the crew stopped again and threatened to offload them! (I wish they had). This should be done more often IMO.

 

[trainmania100]

Yes I often find it quite entertaining
I remember those Thompson ones where the children were doing the briefing on the television screens

 

[chris89]

Only flown 4 times before (Well soon to be 6, out and back from Prague)

But listened to previous ones as different aircraft etc. (Jet2 737/300 and United 757/200) United Also had a small video as well playing whilst doing the announcement.

Better to know and watch the announcements as could well save your life.

 

[306024]

Although I haven't flown for a number of years, whenever I do fly I always make sure to listen to the safety announcement out of courtesy to the flight attendant(s) giving it, and also because it's critically important.

Exactly, it is common courtesy. Some briefings are better than others, but it is soon over and what else were you doing that was more important? Cabin crew do notice who isn't paying attention too.

 

[Skutter]

The best safety advice I was given is to sit near the back of the plane. Have you ever heard of a plane reversing into a mountain?

Find out which seat has the black box under it - if that's the only bit they expect to survive, make sure you're strapped to it. (Paraphrasing David Gunson's very funny after-dinner speech about flight and ATC.)

I must admit I tune out of the talk when I've been through it so many times in a week, but I do the essential memory checklist - how do I get to the exits, if there's a door how does it open? I'd never talk or obviously ignore it.

There's a Horizon progamme - I think - 'How to survive a plane crash' which shows how many incidents people can escape from if they are alert enough.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What I'd really like to do is have a go at getting the life jacket out from below my seat. Er, is it my seat or the one in front of me? No idea how easy or difficult that is, should be dead easy but still a worry!

There are very, very few cases (just airports right on the coast, really) where you wouldn't get at least a few minutes' notice of a ditching, on which they would probably get you to get them out and put them on ready (but NOT blow them up - that could kill you as it may impede your exit through a narrow door).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Also the oxygen mask instructions, it wouldn't be very clever if the plane landed safely but with an asphyxiated passenger.

That too. The most important one is to do yours before helping other people - a basic principle of first aid - the first aider comes first, as the other person is helpless without them.

 

[WestCoast]

I think people pay more attention to live demos carried out by the cabin crew than videos. British Airways has a compromise in that the cabin crew stand in the aisles while a video is shown, but a lot of other airlines don't do this.

It is important to pay attention as not all aircraft are the same. The location of the exits and life jackets does vary based on the type of aircraft.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I find the way easyJet does it - a recorded briefing with crew doing the actions - quite effective - it's clearer than the way crews tend to waffle through it, but harder to ignore than a video.

That said, it surprises me they don't have to restart it when a chunk goes missing because of the power being switched from the APU/GPU to the main engines, which seems to happen near enough every flight.

 

[cf111]

I've heard one umpteen times and still listen, I think it's rude not to never mind anything else.

I also check under my seat to make sure the life-vest is there!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The best safety advice I was given is to sit near the back of the plane. Have you ever heard of a plane reversing into a mountain?

No, but I have heard of aircraft striking the ground tail first - the Air France Concorde was one such example...

 

[Tetchytyke]

There's a Horizon progamme - I think - 'How to survive a plane crash' which shows how many incidents people can escape from if they are alert enough.

And there are fires, like with that Airtours flight fire at Manchester in the mid-80s, or the Singapore Airlines 747 that crashed into construction equipment on a closed runway, where more people would have survived if passengers had sorted themselves out faster.

 

[Howardh]

Yes I often find it quite entertaining
I remember those Thompson ones where the children were doing the briefing on the television screens

Yes, but they kept falling off :cry:

Manx Air did the same thing, but by the time the announcement had finished we'd landed! Well, almost!

About "it's safer at the back, as aircraft don't reverse into mountains" begs the question, that's where the pilots should be!! OK, that's flippant, but I wonder how many bird strikes have shattered the cockpit window and incapacitated both crew? Probably none as it would have to be at a very high altitude; but could it happen at low altitude...and can a solitary bird, even the largest, smash a window?

 

[Bletchleyite]

About "it's safer at the back, as aircraft don't reverse into mountains" begs the question, that's where the pilots should be!! OK, that's flippant, but I wonder how many bird strikes have shattered the cockpit window and incapacitated both crew? Probably none as it would have to be at a very high altitude; but could it happen at low altitude...and can a solitary bird, even the largest, smash a window?

Generally not. There is a story about how those are tested - firing chickens into them from a specialised gun.

Bird strikes tend to damage engines (and because of how the cabin aircon[1] works, apparently they also make the cabin smell of chicken).

[1] The aircon comes off bleed air from the engine core - which is why you often get that alarming niff of paraffin when the aircraft first starts up.

 

[Howardh]

Generally not. There is a story about how those are tested - firing chickens into them from a specialised gun.

Bird strikes tend to damage engines (and because of how the cabin aircon[1] works, apparently they also make the cabin smell of chicken).

[1] The aircon comes off bleed air from the engine core - which is why you often get that alarming niff of paraffin when the aircraft first starts up.

Ta. I assumed there would be lots of testing, but those tests wouldn't include a chicken that had swallowed a grenade

There's a video of a bird strike on a Thomson flight engine, and it does a turn-around and returns safely.

BTW is that smell paraffin or kerocine?

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's Jet A-1 which is similar to paraffin, which is basically the same thing as kerosene, is it not?

 

[DaleCooper]

About "it's safer at the back, as aircraft don't reverse into mountains" begs the question, that's where the pilots should be!!

Careful what you wish for, I can see a future where the pilots will stay on the ground; flying by remore control as with drones. Or maybe total computer control.

but I wonder how many bird strikes have shattered the cockpit window and incapacitated both crew? Probably none as it would have to be at a very high altitude; but could it happen at low altitude...and can a solitary bird, even the largest, smash a window?

Would the high speed airflow around the nose tend to deflect birds away from the window? Any aerodynamicists out there know the answer?