There are some people reading this who have probably been on planes hundreds of times. Who knows, maybe even thousands of times. Hopefully within those hundreds or thousands, or even tens of flights, none of you have ever experienced an in-flight emergency.
But if you had, would you be ready?
Many of you would probably say yes, but I kind of question that. Here’s why.
The most important function of flight attendants is to keep us safe in the skies. They are, of course, well trained and ready to do what’s needed in the event of an emergency.
Before the flight starts, the FAs go over the safety demonstration and
Of course, I’m sure that meme is so-called “fake news” and I’m sure that more than just a dog watched the FA do his/her thing. But really, how many people actually pay attention to the FA each and every time? Or ever look at the safety card in the pocket in front of them?
Certainly not these people on Southwest flight 1380 in 2018:
PEOPLE: Listen to your flight attendants! ALMOST EVERYONE in this photo from @SouthwestAir #SWA1380 today is wearing their mask WRONG. Put down the phone, stop with the selfies.. and LISTEN. **Cover your NOSE & MOUTH. #crewlife #psa #listen #travel #news #wn1380 pic.twitter.com/4b14lZulGm
— Bobby Laurie (@BobbyLaurie) April 17, 2018
And not these people who brought their bags with them as they escaped a burning plane (and then didn’t run away, but turned around to take pictures, and video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhTPNXH_qas
And have you ever wondered why there are ashtrays in planes, even though smoking has been banned on planes for decades? This is why.
So the next time you’re on a plane (and the time after that…and the time after that) stop looking at your phone for the 2 or 3 minutes and pay attention to the flight attendant’s safety demo. Look at the booklet. Even if you’d seen and read it a bajillion times before, it’s always good to have a refresher. Be ready to follow directions during an emergency procedure and not do stupid things that could potentially stop you or someone else from being safe.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
Also, flight attendants take a visual count of everyone that is paying attention and anyone that’s not paying attention. Later on in the flight if you were one of the ones that were paying attention… You actually get service with a smile. I’ve tried this out on many flights and sure enough the ones that don’t pay attention don’t get service with a smile !
While the safety aspect is important, in my opinion, there’s a courtesy component there too. So I always pay attention to manual safety demonstrations, even if I could recite the whole thing from memory. But, if it’s a video safety demo on an airline I’ve flown many times before… nah…