Re-Thinking the Airline Safety Demo
Sep 19, 2016, 6:16 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Boston
Posts: 467
Re-Thinking the Airline Safety Demo
Up now in my Ask the Pilot blog...
Preempting Deadly Behavior: Will Airlines Address the Shortfalls of the Inflight Safety Demo?
The recent crash-landing of a Boeing 777 in Dubai was the latest in a string of incidents in which a number of passengers demonstrated some pretty astounding recklessness. Many of the plane’s occupants imperiled not only their own lives, but the lives of everybody around them, by evacuating from the burning aircraft laden with carry-on bags.
We also saw this in Toronto several years back after an Air France jet went off a runway and burst into flames, then again in 2015 during a fire and evacuation in Las Vegas. Each time I’ve suggested that one of the most effective ways of preempting this dangerous behavior would be to make it an emphasis item in the pre-takeoff passenger safety demo.
This should be part of a strategic overhaul of the entire safety demo concept. For starters, the briefings need to be much, much shorter. In my book I speak of “aviation’s boundless tendency to take the simplest ideas and present them in language as tangled and convoluted as possible.” There is no more glittering example than the fatty babble of the typical safety briefing — a kind of fine print come to life, where twenty-five seconds of useful information is hammered into eight minutes of rigmarole so weighed down with extraneous language that the crew may as well be talking Urdu or speaking in tongues.
Instead, the demo should be a quick, bullet-point tutorial of the essentials, one of which needs to be a clear, no-questions-asked admonition to leave your belongings behind in the event of an evacuation.
I’m pleased to learn that Karen Walker, editor of Air Transport World, the industry’s most important trade publication, feels much the way I do. The October issue of ATW includes an editorial from Walker that echoes much of what I’ve been saying over the years.
For the full story, see my website here...
www.askthepilot.com
Cheers,
Patrick Smith
Preempting Deadly Behavior: Will Airlines Address the Shortfalls of the Inflight Safety Demo?
The recent crash-landing of a Boeing 777 in Dubai was the latest in a string of incidents in which a number of passengers demonstrated some pretty astounding recklessness. Many of the plane’s occupants imperiled not only their own lives, but the lives of everybody around them, by evacuating from the burning aircraft laden with carry-on bags.
We also saw this in Toronto several years back after an Air France jet went off a runway and burst into flames, then again in 2015 during a fire and evacuation in Las Vegas. Each time I’ve suggested that one of the most effective ways of preempting this dangerous behavior would be to make it an emphasis item in the pre-takeoff passenger safety demo.
This should be part of a strategic overhaul of the entire safety demo concept. For starters, the briefings need to be much, much shorter. In my book I speak of “aviation’s boundless tendency to take the simplest ideas and present them in language as tangled and convoluted as possible.” There is no more glittering example than the fatty babble of the typical safety briefing — a kind of fine print come to life, where twenty-five seconds of useful information is hammered into eight minutes of rigmarole so weighed down with extraneous language that the crew may as well be talking Urdu or speaking in tongues.
Instead, the demo should be a quick, bullet-point tutorial of the essentials, one of which needs to be a clear, no-questions-asked admonition to leave your belongings behind in the event of an evacuation.
I’m pleased to learn that Karen Walker, editor of Air Transport World, the industry’s most important trade publication, feels much the way I do. The October issue of ATW includes an editorial from Walker that echoes much of what I’ve been saying over the years.
For the full story, see my website here...
www.askthepilot.com
Cheers,
Patrick Smith
Sep 19, 2016, 10:06 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
I think it's more than just the safety demo. They need to rethink their whole baggage handling and security.
As it stands if we have to leave our carry-ons in an evacuation there's a big question mark about whether we will get our stuff back or compensation if we don't.
As it stands if we have to leave our carry-ons in an evacuation there's a big question mark about whether we will get our stuff back or compensation if we don't.
Sep 23, 2016, 6:31 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brexile in ADB
Programs: BA, TK, HHonours, Le Club, Best Western Rewards
Posts: 7,067
I always keep my passport in my pocket, everything else is backed up and insured.
It's just a matter of time before this sort of selfishness kills people.
It's just a matter of time before this sort of selfishness kills people.
Sep 23, 2016, 7:55 am
#4
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
Can't stand the safety videos...why? They're too darn long (often b/c stupid lighthearted elements are thrown into them to make them unnecessarily lengthy).
Do the safety demo in the aisles... three minutes later, you're done.
Do the safety demo in the aisles... three minutes later, you're done.