I Get Instructions Every Week, But If I Had To Use Them Would I Really Be Prepared?
I will admit that sometimes I don’t always listen to the same instructions if I hear them over and over again. I fly almost every week and 99% of the time I have a window exit row seat. When you sit in that row not only do you get the extra legroom that everyone on a plane craves, you get very important instructions.
Typically the flight attendant will walk up and down the aisle a few times counting passengers and then will stop at the exit row. At that time they will review the instructions on how to open the door in case of an emergency. I have probably flown 50 segments already this year - 99% of which are on the same airline and for some reason I have heard 50 different variations of this instruction. It’s almost like someone is singing the national anthem and wants to put their own mark on the instruction. Perhaps that is another blog topic!
At the end of the instruction they always ask are you okay opening up the door and helping the other passengers. Of course I say yes or nod but the reality is…would I really know what to do? Of course I would help out the best I could and have been known to handle pressure situations (Andrew remember the bus accident in Walt Disney World in 1983) but could I really do it?
Obviously I hope I never have to find out. Because as much as I fly, crashing into the water is one of my biggest fears.
- Have you ever been in a situation like this?
- What did you do?
- How did you handle it?
If you haven’t - how do you think you would do?
August 20th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Merrill,
For what it’s worth, I took a job many years ago where I would be traveling quiet a bit. It was required that we take a air safety course. It was conducted by a former flight attendant and the company was called Safe Air. They had a number of instructional videos and lecture, but also had an old partial fuselage of a 737 and we sat in seats and went through simulated escapes. It was a very interesting little one day course that went through a great deal about what not to wear, how to case out the plane to see which of the passengers would be most likely to stand between you and a successful evacuation, etc. If nothing else, I can say I have removed the door and actually slid down the inflatable slide (a lot of fun I might add).
They did try and sell stuff at the end of the course (videos, personal breathing filters, etc.), but it was probably worth whatever the company had to pay. I still catch myself counting the rows to the nearest exit and not wearing pantyhose when I fly.