Passenger safety thoughts
Sep 23, 2013 | 10:03 am
#46
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The shoes thing - if you are exiting on to tarmac, yes, you want shoes that are not going to fly off. But if you are exiting into water, you need to ditch the shoes... I guess the ideal compromise would be shoes that cover your feet, but that can be kicked off very easily...
Originally Posted by emma69
I always fly with my own pashmina, but if you don't, you may want to keep that in flight blanket handy in case of an emergency...
Originally Posted by emma69
I also always have a water bottle in the seat back pocket that I would grab and bring with in an emergency...
That's a fashion choice, and a suboptimal one for plane travel IMO. It's easy for women to wear a jacket, or jeans with pockets.
Sep 23, 2013 | 11:46 am
#47
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I would say no. If a shoe can be kicked off easily, it can easily be blown off in an impact, leaving you to walk across harsh surfaces in bare or stocking feet. I just wouldn't wear heavy boots that are laborious to remove, but I do always wear shoes that lace up... water down below, or none.
All my lace up shoes (running shoes, 'sturdy walking type' shoes, deck shoes etc) can be kicked off with a ball of foot to heel motion - I spent years being screamed at not to do that with my lace up school shoes!! They aren't going to fall off on their own, but can come off if I need them to in 2 swift movements.
That inflight blanket is made of polyester and will melt in a fire situation -- I don't want it near me. When cabin fires occur some fatalities are due to fumes from synthetic-fabric seatcovers, cabin partitions, blankets, carpeting, plastics, etc. melting. It is pretty criminal what ominous qualities these materials have and that they are allowed to be components of airliner interiors.
My pashmina is natural fibres - and many of the airline blankets I have come across in recent years have been too - I haven't had any of the fleecy ones that I know some airlines use, but yes, if your airline uses those, I'd take a pass!
On a side note, did you know if certain fire-suppressing blankets catch fire (which is hard, but not impossible) the gases given off are poisonous? At university, some years ago now, five of us were treated when such a thing happened (the blanket soaked up the oil that had caught fire, then ignited itself - the firemen were terribly impressed as they hadn't come across one burning with such gusto before!)
You don't want a hand encumbered during evacuation if you can possibly avoid it. Both hands free to grab, grip and support.
That's what bras were invented for - it's my go-to place for shoving anything when I need my hands free!
That's a fashion choice, and a suboptimal one for plane travel IMO. It's easy for women to wear a jacket, or jeans with pockets.
All my lace up shoes (running shoes, 'sturdy walking type' shoes, deck shoes etc) can be kicked off with a ball of foot to heel motion - I spent years being screamed at not to do that with my lace up school shoes!! They aren't going to fall off on their own, but can come off if I need them to in 2 swift movements.
That inflight blanket is made of polyester and will melt in a fire situation -- I don't want it near me. When cabin fires occur some fatalities are due to fumes from synthetic-fabric seatcovers, cabin partitions, blankets, carpeting, plastics, etc. melting. It is pretty criminal what ominous qualities these materials have and that they are allowed to be components of airliner interiors.
My pashmina is natural fibres - and many of the airline blankets I have come across in recent years have been too - I haven't had any of the fleecy ones that I know some airlines use, but yes, if your airline uses those, I'd take a pass!
On a side note, did you know if certain fire-suppressing blankets catch fire (which is hard, but not impossible) the gases given off are poisonous? At university, some years ago now, five of us were treated when such a thing happened (the blanket soaked up the oil that had caught fire, then ignited itself - the firemen were terribly impressed as they hadn't come across one burning with such gusto before!)
You don't want a hand encumbered during evacuation if you can possibly avoid it. Both hands free to grab, grip and support.
That's what bras were invented for - it's my go-to place for shoving anything when I need my hands free!
That's a fashion choice, and a suboptimal one for plane travel IMO. It's easy for women to wear a jacket, or jeans with pockets.
Sep 23, 2013 | 11:52 am
#48
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13,595
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!
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!