Travel News - "The Unlikely Event" Airline Safety cards

This article (http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/11/28/the-art-of-not-drowning/)talks about airline safety cards from the beginning of commercial flying and how they have evolved over time yet still look similar to the original cards.

As everyone knows, the story contained in this pamphlet has little to do with anything resembling the truth. If .... goes down, if that horrifying alarm is sounded, will your fellow passengers really calmly place oxygen masks over their faces?

There are references to original art work that appears to have made its way onto these essential but often overlooked cards. It also discusses the move towards less text and more pictures using the aforementioned art.

We've seen them and hopefully some of us have read them, now see this different perspective of these little life savers.

it's obvious. "Pictures" allow any age, any culture, any individual to look over the card and understand it.

Airline safety cards I've always thought to serve a calming purpose to nervous flyers.. Would anyone remember much proper procedure in a true emergency?.. hopefully instincts kick into the adrenaline rush..

I'm pretty scared of flying, but my personal ritual is to count the plane's exits on the safety card, and that makes me feel better.

Wow, I loved that article. ^

I've often seen the drawing of the serene floating woman and thought it looked absurd yet oddly comforting.

Airline safety cards I've always thought to serve a calming purpose to nervous flyers.. Would anyone remember much proper procedure in a true emergency?.. hopefully instincts kick into the adrenaline rush..

instincts and MEMORY. That's why it's so important to visually "watch" the demo procedures just prior to take off. You've just given your brain, a mental image of several things. One: How to unfasten your belt. In an event, such as a crash landing, you may go into shock, a negative reaction. You may simply sit there in shock. Forget how to open it. Or you can react to save your life. The demo just taught you that. Which you would hopefully unbuckle and go running for the nearest exist. Again, those exists were just pointed out to you, you have a mental image of them.

instincts and MEMORY. That's why it's so important to visually "watch" the demo procedures just prior to take off. You've just given your brain, a mental image of several things. One: How to unfasten your belt. In an event, such as a crash landing, you may go into shock, a negative reaction. You may simply sit there in shock. Forget how to open it. Or you can react to save your life. The demo just taught you that. Which you would hopefully unbuckle and go running for the nearest exist. Again, those exists were just pointed out to you, you have a mental image of them.

On the other hand, the chances of actually being alive in an accident in mid air crosses my mind.. but a topic discussed in other threads on FT..

On the other hand, the chances of actually being alive in an accident in mid air crosses my mind.. but a topic discussed in other threads on FT..

Mid Air? You've just changed the accident. I was commenting to your remark, would anyone truly remember proper procedure. The demo helps you achieve that.

Mid Air? You've just changed the accident. I was commenting to your remark, would anyone truly remember proper procedure. The demo helps you achieve that.

The demo definitely serves a purpose I agree..

My point is in real life accident situations where a plane is flying, and I guess adding to my original comment, maybe in transit landing or taking off, the shock of it all will be a pressure cooker.. plus accidents have a high mortality rate..

The demo definitely serves a purpose I agree..

.. plus accidents have a high mortality rate..

actually, that's a misconception. Crashes are survivable. check it out: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/database.cgi

actually, that's a misconception. Crashes are survivable. check it out: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/database.cgi

Yes, I never said it wasn't survivable.. just pointing out the high mortality rate..

The demo definitely serves a purpose I agree..

My point is in real life accident situations where a plane is flying, and I guess adding to my original comment, maybe in transit landing or taking off, the shock of it all will be a pressure cooker.. plus accidents have a high mortality rate..Well, perhaps; but they also have an extremely, extremely, extremely low incidence rate. @:-)

Well, perhaps; but they also have an extremely, extremely, extremely low incidence rate. @:-)

Correct.. more probability getting into a car accident than ever getting into a plane accident.