ijgordon

Because the location can be different on the same plane based on class of service. @:-) There's almost always a placard visible from the seat specifying where the life vest is.

Huh? Miracle on the Hudson?

rucksack

I take it you didn't read the article, since it discusses the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

To elaborate further, though, there were only 90 seconds between the captain saying "brace for impact" and the plane hitting the water, but at that point it was too late. Bracing for impact precludes finding and putting on a life vest.

cbn42

I don't think there's any Delta flight anywhere in the world that would struggle to find enough able-bodied English speakers. They don't have to be fluent, they just need to be able to understand basic instructions. My guess is that Delta would rather sell the extra legroom or give it to elites.

PAX_fips

Four.. but next time I consider a glove before grabbling for it

navylad

I'm with you on that one, having done the British Royal Navy version, the Dunker.

.

I find my life-jacket and count seats to multiple exits.

It has saved the lives of a few of my friends- both during military aviation accidents but also one who, a week after doing the dunker, was in a ferry that capsized and attributes making it out alive because he had scouted out his exits before-hand.

Widgets

The FA who originally told me about the deleted English requirement said Tokyo flights could be hard sometimes. Not only did passengers need to speak English, they couldn't be with kids, or animals, or wheelchair requests.

3Cforme

The CFR demands that passengers seated in the exit rows understand crew instructions, and be able to impart information orally to other passengers. For every Delta and Delta Connection operated flight, that means understanding and speaking English.

The CFR defines requirements, not the safety card.

enviroian

This and I have done so in the past as well. If passenger doesn't want to say something in front of the passenger when the FA does her spiel OP should have gone to the galley to express his concerns there.

If you were on 1549 would you want gramps in the exit row? I don't think so.

See something? Say something.

djmodifyd

Sounds like the inspector did their job.


Inspectors board more often than you think

stillontheroad

I flew on SouthWest the other day (best direct flight for me) and they pre-boarded an older couple who hobbled down the ramp. When I entered the plane (as #3 boarding) these two were sitting in the exit row. I did say something to the FA and she immediately re-seated the couple. Then after we were inflight she comped me a beer to say thanks.

I for one don't want to count on someone who was so frail to open the door in an emergency.

BenA

I once flew KIX-HNL, and I think I was quite literally the only westerner in economy (the plane was entirely full of Japanese vacationers). I'm sure I was by no means the only English speaker, but I can see how the flight attendants might have had a challenge populating the exit rows with fluent speakers.

In an emergency situation, I can see the merits of both sides. If someone doesn't speak english, they are likely to speak the language of destination which could be useful in communicating with other passengers. On the other hand, that's not *really* the most important skill - taking instructions from the F/A is, and that's likely to be in English.

On a side note, someone from TechOps should fly one of these fifth freedom flights and observe: there are a shocking number of things on the plane signed only in English and not in pictograms. My important exit row duty on that flight was to help multiple Japanese grandmothers find the lavatories, then open and lock the doors - especially on older aircraft, there's no toilet icon, hand icon or padlock/no/yes icon on the latch; they just say "lavatory", "push" and "occupied" (2/3 of which wouldn't be on any Top 100 English vocabulary list).

Newer a/cs (especially the 787) have better signage, but it wouldn't cost Delta much to retrofit it to older aircraft as they rotate through for MX checks.

BHArt

One more exception- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiop...nes_Flight_961

Something I found interesting watching the episode, people that had inflated their vests as an impact cushion were then trapped as the plane sank. If any of us are unfortunate enough to be in this situation, follow the instruction of inflating the vest at/after exiting.

QDDawg

Many of you are correct, I should've said something to the flight attendants.

I assumed that was the responsibility of the flight attendants and they would have noticed them boarding. But didn't see them board so possibly they slowly walked to the jet bridge and then skipped on down to the exit row.

Years ago when my brother flew Southwest he would always ask for a pre-board card, they never asked why, but he'd limp or something, then once on the jetbridge run to the exit row, for the leg room - he's 6'8".

SW put a stop to or at least curbed back on that stating if you pre-boarded you were not permitted to sit in an exit row. (at least on his flights - maybe they recognized him

It was when we landed they had the wheelchairs waiting which really set me off.

I will speak up in the future - see something say something - is the right thing to do.

I will also send a comment to DL.

mpheels

I was on a SEA-HNL flight last year that departed about 10 minutes late because the cabin crew had to scramble to find demo seat belts, masks and life vests. It was a relatively new plane and the safety video wasn't working. I don't think the demo equipment had ever been used before. I was in the first row of C+, so got a good view of the FA pulling everything out of the closets in search of the life vests. They eventually found a bag full of vests with DEMO printed on them, and gave a somewhat rusty performance of the safety briefing.

DCAproducer

The NTSB accident report on US Airways 1549 is an interesting read. (Miracle on the Hudson)
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/...ts/AAR1003.pdf
Very few passengers grabbed their life vest. More grabbed the seat cushion.

On page 43 of the report is a fascinating seat map that shows which exit each passenger used.

On page 44 of the report:
-25 passengers (17 percent) reported watching most of the preflight safety
demonstration, and an additional 19 passengers (13 percent) reported watching
some of the demonstration.

-12 passengers (8 percent) reported reading the safety information card before or during the flight.

-77 passengers (53 percent) retrieved seat cushions during the evacuation. Of
these, 45 (31 percent) retrieved the seat cushion from their own seat, 27 (18
percent) retrieved a seat cushion from a different seat, and 5 (3 percent) found a seat cushion floating in the cabin.

-5 passengers (3 percent) reported retrieving life vests from under their seats after impact. An additional 5 passengers (3 percent) reported retrieving a life vest from under a different seat after impact.

-21 passengers (14 percent) reported being given a life vest that came from the airplane by someone during or after they had evacuated.