This makes no sense to me whatsoever. She hasn't been in a car before, either?

Does your car have a latch that lifts up? Do you have to tighten your own belt? Geez.

busted!
 

Aha! Now we know who doesn't buckle up in his car!:D

Or maybe his limo driver doesn't make him. Might be good practice for the Porsche pickup.

I watched a 1st time flyer on a flight may years ago (happened to be DL) long before I had any status on any carrier. Poor woman closed her eyes, gripped the armrests & cried quietly during takeoff. Once we were airborne, I started talking with her, and she described her fears about flying: she was a first timer out of fear, not lack of opportunity. She seemed to calm down while cruising, but started to get anxious again at the prospect of landing, and kept calling the FA's to ask questions.

I moved up to sit next to her & talked her through every sound she would hear and sensation she would feel. Each time I described something that then happened, her eyes went wide & and she got quieter, saying only 'I can't believe you knew that would happen/ sound like that / felt like that...it was just like you said. As we made our way off the plane, the FA's were wrapping by shoulder, mouthing silent Thank-yous.

It was awful to see her really suffer, and fun to help demystify things so she could chill & try to enjoy it a little. Would have loved to bey a fly on the wall for her return flight!

It's going to be hard for them to ever take a seat in back after that... :D

I find making fun of a first-time-flyer offensive and an inappropriate use of this forum.

My first flight resulted in a scorching case of lock-jaw. My life has never been the same.

Thanks....I'm terrible that way...


This is a very good point... I've heard human factors researchers report that in talking to crash survivors it is common for some people to survive the crash but NOT be able to undo their seat belt because in their stress/panic state they rely on muscle memory and instinct and try to open the seatbelt like they have millions of time in their cars...

Or he has a classic car (or remembers them like I do) that has original seatbelts. I remember my first new (used) car. It had seatbelts like the ones used in planes today. I used to wonder why they bother explaining how to use seatbelts during the safety briefing until I realized that some folks have never used that style except in planes.

It was not my first flight but my third in August 1988. I was flying with my wife (the first time I had flown since August 1970). It was MAN - Tangiers Morocco. We hit some turbulence over Seville - we both just jumped and clutched each other. A frequent flier within 2 seats rang just burst out laughing. Since then (this last summer) I had a very severe aborted landing on a SEA-KTN AS flight. It did not phase me at all. I was a virgin once.

That's my favorite...about half the time I explain the real reason behind the sound, and the other times I say "They don't have space for the kennels, so they just herd the dogs into the cargo bins. Don't worry about the sound; They can get noisy when they come across a bag with some good stuff in it" :D

An Embraer ERJ 135 hitting turbulence would probably have made her s--t her pants.

I'm glad there were no irrops. First time flyers having to deal with alternative flight arrangements etc are painful to watch/hear.

I have a story about a second time flyer... MSP-DTW on Sun Country about 10 years ago. Sunday after Thanksgiving and the flight had already been delayed long enough for me to go back home and have some turkey soup for dinner. Take seats ~3.5 hours late, I politely ask the guy next to me if he flies a lot "No, this is my second time, heading back from my first flight." I assure him we'll be fine and proceed to take a turkey nap before the door even closes. Despite being in college, my mom traveled very frequently so even at 19 I could do the safety routine myself if asked. As we climb I notice my ears need to pop, so pop once, 2 seconds later, pop again, then again, then again then the voice in my head says "this doesn't seem right". Cue oxygen masks dropping down, front to back and in row 20something, kind of a sight to see. I unthinkingly grab my mask as we seem to be flying normally and no smoke or flames. I then remember the poor guy next to me. Knuckles about to explode through his skin with the grip on his armrest and turning beet red from breathing so hard. I take my mask off to point out our smooth and level flying, FA's scream for everyone to be calm. About 2 minutes later, capt. diagnoses the problem, cabin pressurizing valve was frozen open but has now warmed up and sealed so no need for masks anymore. Apparently no pressure at 10k ft. triggered the masks but got the all clear. Just wish I had a camera, many rows of people after things had calmed were taking pictures with the palms-up "freak out" hands. All's well that ends well. I'm sure if the OP's observers had this experience it would have been a REAL scene.

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+1... I really wonder how some agents hold it together while trying to explain for the hundredth time that day that they don't control the weather.

Love love love the pumps....

It's nice to calm down concerned little old ladies and tell them what it is - but it's just as fun to look startled too when you're sitting next to an already panicked flyer. :D