While the comments on precautions to take during the takeoff and landing phases of flight are excellent, something I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet is wearing your seatbelt during cruise. You never know when turbulence will hit and a seat belt during cruise (even a loose one) could keep you from getting seriously injured in the (admittedly rare) instance that the aircraft suddenly loses altitude.

Perhaps they figured that enough exit row passengers are not strong enough to lift and throw the exit door out through the door opening.

There is a great post over on the BA boards about this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...l#post17484553

It says pretty much everything ;)

I've read the max load label on those overhead bins and see how much people drag on and often thought "this won't end well in an emergency" European's and Asian's tend to drag on a lot less bulk then we American's and I tend to think that's a legitimate safety issue.

Well, technically it's not dumb. The rule of no inflation until after egress comes from historical tragedy. I'll have to search for the exact reference but basically the water landed plane rapidly filled with water. The passengers, who put on their life vests and inflated them prior to egress, were trapped and drowned in the plane as the water floated and pinned their bodies into the cabin's ceiling.

Now that the annoying terrorists have made it illegal to carry utility knives and other useful tools, there's no way to quickly cut things anymore.

Lately I was shopping for a whistle for my SCUBA BC, and wondered what kind of whistle was on the UA-issued life vest. The UA mechanic sitting next to me advised me not to check out the life vest under my seat. I couldn't remember why.

Airlines based in Europe and Asia are more likely to have carry on weight limits (7kg to 10kg is typical) than airlines based in the US.

I think heavy carry-ons are the most dangerous thing now. No, they probably won't kill you, but injuries happen at a million times more frequency than injuries from the airplane crashing.

Charging for overhead bin space is very difficult to implement. I would rather replace the big overhead bins with small ones from the 1970's, giving passengers more space around them (less claustrophobia) and obviously preventing you from putting in a suitcase-sized "carry-on".

I don't get why folks are panicking about leaving their phones, wallet, passport behind etc. If my plane ditches I just want to get out with my LIFE not all my belongings. I can always get a new passport and I am sure I won't be hauled off to jail because my passport was burnt or now at the bottom of the ocean and I don't have it on me.

Phone, passport, and wallet should be small enough to be in your pockets already, so that they won't hinder your evacuation.

Easy to do for guys, but many of the fairer sex wear clothes without them.

Not all evacuations are immediately life threatening. I was evacuated from an aircraft on stand via jet bridge because of a fuel leak on a mid-summer's day. I was on a full 747 in the middle of boarding the last remaining rows when the captain came on the tannoy and ordered everyone off leaving all things behind.

The flight attendants switched into high gear and the plane was empty 5 minutes later. When it came time to re-board the aircraft, those who had brought their passports and boarding passes with them (this would be me) were let on first. Those who had those items stuffed in the lockers had to be escorted on board by the GA and a security person to verify the documents. this cost us 2 hours!

This is also why I never fasten my seatbelt right when I board but wait until the captain actually turns on the sign. The sign being off is usually an indication that the aircraft is in the process of being refuelled.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy gives similar recommendations for a towel, but a pashmina might be better than a towel in that traveling with a pashmina wrapped around one's shoulders would tend to attract far less unwanted attention than would traveling with a towel worn in the same manner.

I'd hesitate to grab an airline blanket or many scarves/fleeces if there's fire - I don't need synthetics melting to my skin.

Water bottle in the seat pocket is great unless you're on an airline that prohibits personal belongings in the seat back pocket during takeoff/landing (seen this on WN).

Yes, that was ET 961, which crashed while attempting a water landing near the Comoros Islands - it ran out of fuel after being hijacked. People who hadn't inflated their life jackets were able to swim out of the aircraft and then swim to the coast, which was fairly close.

Basically, you have no way of knowing what will be safer should there be a major issue. In some particular cases, depending on the nature of the issue, it's better to inflate your life jacket, and in some cases it isn't. It's akin to deciding to sit in the front or the back of the aircraft - while there are some statistics about it, obviously you have no guarantee that if you sit in the back you won't get unlucky and have it be the most damaged area of the aircraft, as was the case with ET 961, IIRC. Basically, all you can do is take your pick and hope you chose right for that particular flight!

Just to add, door exits are much faster moving than window exits.