also in your own hands.
Make wise and informed decisions on the basis of the information in this book
and you, your family and loved ones ought to remain safe when flying.
Chapter 16
Top Tips for Flying Safe
What you can do before and after you buy a ticket
to make your flight a safer one:
1. Avoid airlines banned by the European Union.
2. Avoid airlines from FAA downgraded countries.
3. Avoid carriers under
industrial strife; they may hire-in temporary crews or other carriers to help
maintain the flight schedule.
4. Low cost does not at
once mean low safety; but as the industry fights to survive, it can.
5. Although you book with
a major airline, the chances are growing in Europe that a smaller carrier was
contracted to do the flight. Some are good, some are bad. Ask which regional
carrier you'll be flying with, and do yourself a favor and check their safety
record online before you fly.
6. If flying with children,
use a proper safety harness as described in this book, and not a loop belt.
7. When and where
possible, avoid flying in extremes of weather, and especially with smaller
carriers.
8. When possible, avoid
flying in world regions where air accidents are more common and air safety does
not always appear to be paramount: most of Africa, parts of the Russian
Federation. If you have to, then do not fly with airlines mentioned in tip 1, 2
and 3.
9. Always try to pick a
seat in the 'survival' zone.
The Survival Zone in an aircraft—what is it?
According to studies, some
seats offer a higher percentage of survivability in certain accidents where an
evacuation is required.
The world leading Fire Safety
Group at Greenwich University led by Professor
Ed Galea, studied more than a hundred plane crashes and interviewed almost two
thousand survivors.
They found an interesting
statistic: the majority of survivors in fatal accidents had only to move 5 seat
rows or less to an exit. Less surprising perhaps, those in an aisle seat had a
slightly higher survival percentage rate than those seated in window seats.
Onboard Aviation Safety Tips
A comment that crews often
hear from their non-aviation friends is: “The safety demonstration—big deal
I’ve seen it before and anyway if we crash we are dead.”
Wrong.
Over ninety-five percent of
passengers in accidents survive but many of the five percent died because of
incorrect actions before, during and after the accident. And no matter how
often you travel, most people’s motor actions are not trained for such an event.
In a crash or major incident you may have to rely on tired and overworked
flight attendants to show you the way out of a life threatening situation, so
educate yourself.
Here’s an abbreviation which
some airlines use to instill instinctive reactions in their crews: S.O.S. = S urvive the impact, get O utside, S urvive outside.
S. O.S.
S urvive the impact.
That announcement onboard
asking you to pay attention even if you are a regular traveler; they aren’t
kidding. Just like the pilots and flight attendants, practice does make perfect
and where survival is concerned, appropriate reactions are worth striving for.
Imagine if someone hit you with
a baseball bat then held your head over a barbeque -that’s how it may feel in
the case of an accident. You’d be hard pushed to think clearly about what you
should do to get out of the situation. Having survival actions engraved on your
brain is the key. History shows even experienced crew get it wrong; if you
assume you know what to do because you have seen it before and often, you may
want to think twice and put down that newspaper.
Here’s an example: you travel
by car much more often than you fly. Picture yourself trying to get out of that
car in a hurry for any reason you want. What is the first thing you’ll do?
You’ll push down on the seatbelt release to free yourself from restraint. In
the event of an aircraft accident or incident you may in all probability push
down on that seatbelt
Make wise and informed decisions on the basis of the information in this book
and you, your family and loved ones ought to remain safe when flying.
Chapter 16
Top Tips for Flying Safe
What you can do before and after you buy a ticket
to make your flight a safer one:
1. Avoid airlines banned by the European Union.
2. Avoid airlines from FAA downgraded countries.
3. Avoid carriers under
industrial strife; they may hire-in temporary crews or other carriers to help
maintain the flight schedule.
4. Low cost does not at
once mean low safety; but as the industry fights to survive, it can.
5. Although you book with
a major airline, the chances are growing in Europe that a smaller carrier was
contracted to do the flight. Some are good, some are bad. Ask which regional
carrier you'll be flying with, and do yourself a favor and check their safety
record online before you fly.
6. If flying with children,
use a proper safety harness as described in this book, and not a loop belt.
7. When and where
possible, avoid flying in extremes of weather, and especially with smaller
carriers.
8. When possible, avoid
flying in world regions where air accidents are more common and air safety does
not always appear to be paramount: most of Africa, parts of the Russian
Federation. If you have to, then do not fly with airlines mentioned in tip 1, 2
and 3.
9. Always try to pick a
seat in the 'survival' zone.
The Survival Zone in an aircraft—what is it?
According to studies, some
seats offer a higher percentage of survivability in certain accidents where an
evacuation is required.
The world leading Fire Safety
Group at Greenwich University led by Professor
Ed Galea, studied more than a hundred plane crashes and interviewed almost two
thousand survivors.
They found an interesting
statistic: the majority of survivors in fatal accidents had only to move 5 seat
rows or less to an exit. Less surprising perhaps, those in an aisle seat had a
slightly higher survival percentage rate than those seated in window seats.
Onboard Aviation Safety Tips
A comment that crews often
hear from their non-aviation friends is: “The safety demonstration—big deal
I’ve seen it before and anyway if we crash we are dead.”
Wrong.
Over ninety-five percent of
passengers in accidents survive but many of the five percent died because of
incorrect actions before, during and after the accident. And no matter how
often you travel, most people’s motor actions are not trained for such an event.
In a crash or major incident you may have to rely on tired and overworked
flight attendants to show you the way out of a life threatening situation, so
educate yourself.
Here’s an abbreviation which
some airlines use to instill instinctive reactions in their crews: S.O.S. = S urvive the impact, get O utside, S urvive outside.
S. O.S.
S urvive the impact.
That announcement onboard
asking you to pay attention even if you are a regular traveler; they aren’t
kidding. Just like the pilots and flight attendants, practice does make perfect
and where survival is concerned, appropriate reactions are worth striving for.
Imagine if someone hit you with
a baseball bat then held your head over a barbeque -that’s how it may feel in
the case of an accident. You’d be hard pushed to think clearly about what you
should do to get out of the situation. Having survival actions engraved on your
brain is the key. History shows even experienced crew get it wrong; if you
assume you know what to do because you have seen it before and often, you may
want to think twice and put down that newspaper.
Here’s an example: you travel
by car much more often than you fly. Picture yourself trying to get out of that
car in a hurry for any reason you want. What is the first thing you’ll do?
You’ll push down on the seatbelt release to free yourself from restraint. In
the event of an aircraft accident or incident you may in all probability push
down on that seatbelt
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