# Presentation: 479148

## By: Bill Benhoff

- Safety Program Manager
- Cleveland FSDO

## IMPORTANT NOTICE !!

**Please ****listen**** to this presentation, it could save your life.**
**Please ****tell**** your friends about this information.**
**Share it ****with your family**

**Notes:**
The intent of this presentation is not to scare you away from airline travel.  Instead, I want to give you information that will help you to survive in the unlikely event your involved in an aircraft accident.

You are at risk at all times, when you get on an airplane your at risk of being involved in an accident.  If you plan, and think about what actions you will need to take then, IF you are in an accident you will be ready to react.

This presentation is focused on the airline passenger, BUT, the principals apply in any airplane.

## An Air Traveler’s Guide

- Commercial airlines of the U.S. are the safest and most efficient form of transportation
- Only 15 % of airline accidents involve fatalities
- Even in these accidents the** majority **of the passengers survive the accident

## An Air Traveler’s Guide

**80 % **of the fatalities in a survivable accident occur after the airplane has come to a stop, during the evacuation
- Experts say “on average” you have less than  2 minutes to evacuate an aircraft after an accident
- Obviously this is not the time to plan your actions

## An Air Traveler’s Guide

- Where is the safest place to sit on the airplane?
**IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOUR SEAT IS -- WHAT DOES MATTER IS WHERE YOUR HEAD’S AT !!!**

**Notes:**
Seat location, and surviablitily is determined by the circumstances in each individual accident.  These can not be know prior to flight.

However, what you can control and determine is what preparation and planning you do when you get on board.  You have to MENTALLY plan for an emergency in order to react in a positive manner if it should occur

## An Air Traveler’s Guide

**You**, the air traveler. play a very important role in aviation safety
_**Take responsibility for your own safety**_
**Your preparations **for a flight and **actions you take during the flight **can effect your chances of survival

**Notes:**
Most people when they enter an airport or get on board an airplane surrender the responsibility for their safety to the airline.  They incorrectly feel that they have no control over what happens so they fail to take actions that will increase their safety.

Some items I will cover are just common sense, some will be new information that you maybe did not have access to before, BUT, people have gotten so used to air transportation and the relative safety of it that they harbor a false sense of security.  They think it will never happen to them and so they fail to consider what they would do in an emergency.

Evidence HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY TAKE THE SAFETY BRIEFING CARD OUT OF THE SEAT BACK AND READ IT?  HOW MANY LISTEN TO THE SAFETY BRIEFING?

The next time your on an airplane look around and notice how many people pay these items no attention.  I guarantee you that if you do the things that I tell you to do people will look at you strangely, and you’ll be the only one doing them, but ask yourself WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

## An Air Traveler’s Guide

- When accidents are likely to happen:
- Takeoff & Initial Climb....    24%
- Climb ................................     7%
- Cruise ................................    5.5%
- Decent ................................  10%
- Initial Approach .................. 14%
- Final & Landing .................. 36%

- ) 12 %
- - 64 %

- - 10 %

- ) 14 %

**81 % vs  26 %**

**Notes:**
Exposure times:     Takeoff, Initial Climb, Climb = 12 %
                              Cruise                                     =  64 %
                              Decent                                    =  10 %
                              Approach, Landing                =  14 %

## When should you prepare ?

- When you’re packing
- When you’re dressing
- When you get on board
- During the SAFETY briefing
- Prior to landing

**Notes:**
This is when your safety begins, long before your arrival at the airport and before you get on the airplane.  By that time it’s too late to take some of the actions I will suggest, but not to late to still be a safer passenger.

(JOHN : and High Speed Aluminum Tubing)

Think, you are about to get into a very large piece of aluminum tubing, and travel at almost the speed of sound, in an environment that you could not survive in without the assistance of mechanical devices.  You have no personal control over the operation.  Why do passengers think they don’t have to be concerned for their safety??

## Packing for your trip

- If you can lift it - doesn't mean it’s a carry on bag
- Carry-on luggage should fit under the seat in front of you or “easily” fit into the overhead bin
- The heavier pieces of carry-on baggage should be placed on the floor

**Notes:**
How many times have you seen someone trying to stuff a full size garment bag into an overhead compartment.  The items some people think are carry-on baggage are astounding.

Again think about the last flight you made and what other passengers carried on board, I challenge you to look at other passengers carry-on baggage on your next flight.

Ask yourself, would you want to try to get around this item in an emergency evacuation.

Passengers do not realize that the overhead bins will come open in an accident and spill their contents all over the floor of the airplane.

I get angry what I’m on board an airplane and I see someone carry their whole set of luggage on board.  I think that now I WILL HAVE TO contend with these obstacles if there is an emergency evacuation.

## Packing for your trip

- Don’t carry on items with sharp corners
- During turbulence or an accident, carry-on items could become flying projectiles
- Limit to 2 bags - remember any carry-on bag, could block your exit

## Packing for your trip

- Electronic items could interfere with navigation equipment, don’t use until crew announces you can
- If you bring a child seat on board, without purchasing a ticket for the child, it is considered a carry-on bag (more on this later)

## Packing for your trip

- Some common items are considered “hazardous materials” and could pose a danger when carried on board or checked in baggage:
- Mace canisters
- Aerosols containing flammable materials
- Propane, butane cylinders or refills, and lighter refills

## Packing for your trip

- In an emergency evacuation: **DO NOT TAKE ANY CARRY-ON BAGGAGE WITH YOU !!!** it will only slow down yours and everyone else's evacuation
**You do not own any anything worth losing your life over, and I know you don’t own anything worth me losing my life.**

## Dressing for your flight

- Wear low heeled shoes or boots preferably with straps or laces
- Do not wear sandals, they offer no protection from sharp objects or fire
- Do not wear nylons, they will melt onto your skin during exposure to heat

## Dressing for your flight

- Wear clothing that allows freedom of movement, avoid restrictive clothing.
- Synthetic fabrics will melt to your skin, causing severe burns if heated
- Clothing should be made from natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, denim or leather - the tighter the weave the more protection they offer

## Dressing for your flight

- Your arms and legs should be fully covered, the more skin exposed, the higher the risk factor
- If you can, wear a jacket during the high risk times of the flight
- If you remove any clothing during the flight, put it back on prior to the landing

## Getting on board the airplane

- Count the seat rows from the entrance, and at least two other emergency exits, one in front of you and one behind
- Stow all carry-on baggage, heavy items on the floor
- If you can’t get an item to fit, ask the flight attendant to have it checked, your safety is worth the hassle

## Getting on board the airplane

- If you are seated in an emergency exit row, be prepared to accept the responsibility.  What you do could effect many lives!
- Learn how to open the exit, and plan what you will do in an emergency
- Limit your alcohol consumption in these seats
- Review procedures before landing !!!

## The Safety Briefing

- Is your life worth a few minutes????
- Take the briefing card out of the seat back and follow along with the flight attendants
- Listen and learn - each airplane is different
- Mentally plan actions you would need to take in an emergency
**Review the card again before landing**

## Oxygen Mask

- One of the most important items covered is the operation of the oxygen mask
- There have been many instances where passengers have been unable to use the oxygen mask correctly in actual decompressions

## Oxygen Mask

- For example:
- An American Airlines DC-10 with 53 passengers, and a crew of 12 was descending from 35,000’.  A decompression caused the oxygen masks to deploy.
- The senior flight attendant instructed the passengers to put the mask on.
- Only 2 passengers put on masks correctly, 51 either didn’t react or merely leaned forward and attempted to use the masks.

## Oxygen Mask

- In a sudden decompression:
- Loud bang and a whooshing sound
- The cabin will instantly fog and cool
- Any loose paper will fly about
- A lack of oxygen will impair your judgment and cause a reduction in vision.  The severity of these symptoms increases with altitude.

## Oxygen Mask

- At the altitudes most airlines fly a passenger would remain conscious for approximately 18 seconds, and only be able to perform a purposeful act for **15 seconds**
- Certainly not enough time to learn how to operate the oxygen mask
**Alcohol decreases your time, and**** ****if you smoke, cut it in half!**

## The Safety Briefing

- The most important safety item on board is your seat belt
- Keep it fastened, low and snugly across your hips **at all times**
- Sudden turbulence has injured nearly 300 passengers within the last 10 years.  None had their seat belts fastened

## Traveling with children

- The regulations allow that a child “who has **not reached **their 2nd birthday” **may be **held by an adult who is occupying a seat.
- The same regulation allows for the child to be in an approved child restraint system (CRS)
- A child who is held by an adult has less protection in an accident than any piece of galley equipment on that airplane

## Traveling with children

- In an accident occupants typically experience 20g’s or 20 times their weight
- A 20 pound child will react with a moving force of 400 pounds - there is no way you will be able to hold on to them
- Strapping them into your seat belt will cause them to sustain fatal internal injuries and is illegal

## Traveling with children

- The **only option **is to put them into an approved CRS
- What’s **NOT** “approved”
- Booster seats
- Vest / Harness-type CRS’s
- Belt-positioning booster seats
- Belly belts

**Notes:**
Booster Seats - contributed to an increase in abdominal pressure in crash test dummies.  Airline seats are not rigid as auto seats are.  Airline seats are designed to breakover when struck by the passenger behind them.  This combined with the rigid booster seat shield, cause internal injuries to the child

Vest / Harness CRS’s - did not provide adequate restraint to prevent a serious impact with the seat back in front of the child, and a rebound impact with the child's own seat because of the location of the seat belt anchors for an airline seat

Belt-Positioning booster seats - Require shoulder harnesses which airline seats do not have

Belly Belts - allowed the test dummy to make sever contact with the back of the seat in the row in front of the test dummy.  The child may be crushed by the forward bending motion of the adult to whom the child is attached

## Traveling with children

- “Approved CRS’s” have a label that states: “This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft”
- If your child is:
- Under 20 LBS - use a rear facing CRS
- 20 to 40 LBS - use forward facing CRS
- Over 40 LBS - use the seat belt with no CRS

## Traveling with children

- Ask airline if they offer a discounted fare for a child traveling in a CRS
- A CRS should be placed in a window seat so it will not block the escape path
- CRS’s will not be allowed in an Exit Row
- Check the width of your CRS, if wider than 16” is unlikely to fit into a coach seat

**Notes:**
If you purchase a ticket for your child you are guaranteed that they will have a seat and that you will be able to use your CRS

If your CRS is wider than 16” even if you remove the armrest the seat will not properly fit the seat frame

## Traveling with children

- If you do not purchase a ticket for your child, check with the airline and avoid flights during their busiest times
- In many cases the airlines will allow you to use a CRS in an empty seat without having to pay a fare, however check with the airline for their policy regarding an empty seat, prior to booking the flight

## Prior to Landing

- Remember 50 % of the aircraft accidents occur during the approach and landing
- Mentally review your escape plan and the briefing card again
- If you removed them, put your shoes and coat back on
- Stow any carry-on items

## Emergency Evacuation Tips

**Listen to the Flight Attendants **- they are the first line of safety in airline operations
**Do not panic **- think clearly and execute your escape plan
**Watch for “Negative Panic” **- occurs when a person does little or nothing to escape from a life threatening situation.  Accident investigators find this happens more often than panic

**Notes:**
Having a mental escape plan will help prevent both panic and negative panic.  The passenger who has mentally planned for an emergency will provide a leadership role for other passenger which will help them to overcome negative panic.

Another problem encountered during emergency evacuations is passengers trying to use the same exit they entered the airplane through.  Often times climbing over seat backs or blocking the aisles trying to get to the entrance door - it is a form of panic behavior 

## Emergency Evacuation Tips

**Get in a Brace position prior to impact **- this will help you avoid injury
**Throw over wing exit doors out of aircraft **- they will block others if left in the airplane
**STEP, BODY, STEP **- when using over wing exits.  Do not dive through

## Emergency Evacuation Tips

**If you’re using the evacuation slides - JUMP OUT**  -  2 to 3 feet, into center of slide
**Place arms across chest, elbows in, legs and feet together**
**DO NOT SIT DOWN TO SLIDE!!**
**Take ****NO**** ****carry-on baggage with you **

## Emergency Evacuation Tips

- One of the greatest threats to passenger survival in a post crash situation is fire
- Many passengers think they have about 5 minutes to escape
- In reality an external fire can burn through the skin of the airplane in less than 2 min’s
- Passengers must contend with smoke, heat, toxic fumes, and loss of visual references

## Emergency Evacuation Tips

**Check all emergency exits **for fire prior to opening or using
**Place a cloth over your mouth and nose**** - **and avoid breathing in smoke
**Stay low and out of the smoke**
**Exit quickly and get at least 500’ away from the airplane**
_**NEVER**_** GO BACK INTO AIRPLANE!!**

## In Conclusion

- Dress properly
- Obey carry-on restrictions
- LISTEN to the safety briefing
- Mentally have an escape plan
- Know the location and how to operate the emergency exits
- Know how to operate the oxygen mask, put yours on first, then help others

## In Conclusion

- Watch your alcohol consumption during flight
- Keep your seat belt fastened at all times
- Purchase a ticket for all children and use a CRS for children less than 40 LBS
- Review emergency cards and mental plan prior to landing

## In Conclusion

- In the event of an emergency evacuation - remember SPEED, SPEED, SPEED
- Listen to and follow instructions from crew members
**FLY SMART. **Be responsible for your safety and make your safe trip even safer

## Slide 40

## Slide 41

## Thank You