Just like the seat belt on a car, seat belts on a plane are provided to keep you in your seat during unexpected movement. They’re not optional, and if a flight attendant tells you to put your seat belt on after the pilot has turned on the seat belt light, you better follow instructions, stay seated, and have it snugly tightened across your hips.
This continues until your plane has landed, taxied and stopped at the gate. Then you hear the ding, the “Seat Belt” sign goes off, and you can unbuckle it.
If your plane is just temporarily stopping at this airport and you’ll be continuing on to your next city, the choice of wearing your seat belt until take-off is up to you. However, there’s one time when it’s required to be unbuckled: when you’re refueling.
How come?
It’s exactly what you think. Fuel…car fuel, plane fuel, whatever fuel…can be dangerous. It goes on fire. It can release fumes.
If there’s any incident related to refueling, the airline wants you to be ready to evacuate as quickly as possible. They don’t want you to have to take the extra time to fiddle with your seatbelt (since you don’t *have* to be wearing it when you’re not moving anyway).
Obviously, the chances of an “incident” are minuscule. But if something goes wrong, they want everybody to be ready. So:
- seatbelts unfastened
- smoking is prohibited (well, it is anyway)
- cleaning crew can’t be blocking the aisles
- no one is allowed in the lavatory (the flight attendants lock them so people don’t get trapped in there if other passengers are evacuating past them)
- At least 2 doors must be at the ready for an emergency evacuation
And the refueling process can’t even begin unless the pilot (or their flight deck representative) gives the OK.
Why don’t they empty the plane?
You’d think, if there was such a small chance of an “incident” during refueling, that they’d make all the passengers unload from the plane, right?
Nope. Your safety is important, but turnaround time, and ensuring they take off when they’re supposed to, is more important.
Feature photo (cropped): avfuel.com
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.