In point of fact, an extremely common theme one finds in NTSB investigations of air crashes with survivors is FAs freezing up, panicking, weeping, etc. at the moment of maximum need. Passengers have reported over and over again that in real emergencies, many FAs were of little to no use or even a negative factor. Even in minor emergencies many fold. I recall a New York Times story regarding a US flight that developed a hydraulics problem and had to make an emergency landing... a situation that quickly seemed worse than it was because the FA doing the emergency briefing on the PA was clearly and openly crying. I recall a Flyertalker recounting a UA flight that landed in DEN with a serious systems failure -- a case in which the passengers were largely ignored because the entire FA contingent was weeping, hugging and praying together. There are tons of these cases. The standard assertion that FAs are high-level safety professionals is somewhat undone by the evidence, which shows that when the agenda changes in a hurry from serving Cokes to saving lives, or even acting cool in the face of a POSSIBLE emergency, a disturbing percentage of FAs fold.

I mean no criticism of anyone here because, as flymeaway says, nobody knows how they'll react when push comes to shove. But having read dozens of these NTSB reports I have little to no faith in the ability of the average flight attendant to respond in a serious emergency. I always make my own quiet evac plans during the safety demo. (And if an FA is giggling and stumbling her way through the demo speech, signaling to the whole plane that s/he isn't taking it seriously -- as sometimes happens -- I write that person off immediately.)

I wish the evidence were different, but it's not. There are heroic FAs when things go wrong, absolutely, but there are also a lot who go south at the moment their whole career has been leading up to. No disrespect intended.

And thank you for taking it well...I worried that my words might have been a little too pointed, not wanting to be dismissive of your experience. I'm glad that your love of flying hasn't been diminished by it, too.

We were all new, once. And we're all new to new aircraft types when they enter our fleet. With US carriers, FA's can't work flights on new aircraft types until they've met certain requirements for that aircraft such as emergency operation of the doors, etc. New is still new, though, and it is always exciting being on a brand new airplane...

None taken, either. I appreciate your frankness...

In the end, we're all human. I have seen veteran medics and firefighters suddenly fold in the face of certain situations as well - usually when the unexpected happens. We all try to be flexible and ready for anything, but when a situation suddenly changes from whatever you (subconciously) expected...well, even the best prepared can lose their focus. I sometimes wonder if those of us who fly often are more prone to it, simply for the fact of having taken thousands of purely uneventful flights prior to that incident. Our brains like habit and repetition, I suppose, and sometimes they react poorly to sudden changes. It's easy to be complacent.

This discussion does beg the question, though, of how to effectively train and prepare FA's (and passengers?) for these situations. In our FA training, we discuss a lot of what-ifs and drill the details of evacuations and so on...but how does one address the psychological components? I can rattle off commands and open doors and blow slides in my sleep, but am I mentally prepared for such events? Fortunately they occur infrequently enough that it's not a 'hot' issue for the FAA or for our inflight training department, but perhaps it should be taken more seriously.

Good for you...I wish more of my passengers would take it seriously. I don't want any of you to sit through the entire flight on the edge of your seats, ready to assume a brace position and hustle out of the plane. But I do appreciate those of you who take a half a minute to double check the location of the exits and how many rows are between them and you.

As well you should - it's a huge pet peeve of mine, too. That, and passengers who giggle and chit chat through the demo as well - especially when they're in FC or the exit rows. The reasons are both practical and punctilious. It's just plain bad manners.

Good discussion here; you guys are leaving me with a few questions for others in my company.

Oh, absolutely. I fly with my young son. I try to teach him to be a good (and polite) passenger, which means paying attention to the demo. And there are negative role models yakking all around us. The I'm-too-cool-for-this syndrome. Drives me nuts.

You just know that if we did have an emergency and had to think for ourselves in a hurry, those folks ostentatiously ignoring the demo would be a mortal danger to everyone else.

Yup...they'll be the ones who instinctively run toward the door they boarded through, because the location of the other exits isn't fresh in their heads, etc, etc.

Good for you for setting a better example for your son than the others are doing. We know who the good kids and great parents are. It's a bit cheeky, I know, but I always make a point to compliment the kids' manners and whatnot when I'm giving out wings - but only when its warranted. I know sometimes they're tired and cranky, but I like to reward them when they've been good passengers.

But it seems like many (male) FlyerTalkers just want young, pretty, female flight attendants that they can ogle and flirt with. Of course, they rationalize it with the claim that somehow, youth equals greater competence in an emergency, which is a questionable assumption at best. I doubt that there is much correlation. Of course, if an FA is physically unfit for any reason, whether from being too weak because of advanced age, or too weak because of not exercising, that is not a good thing. But the greater concern seems to be the ability to handle an emergency situation MENTALLY, to think clearly, assess the situation, take charge and do what needs to be done. This takes a certain mental toughness, an ability to remain calm rather than panicking when an emergency arises. I really don't see where youth and beauty have any special advantage there!

I can appreciate the "nobody knows how they'll react" factor. Certainly I'd like to think that even as a passenger I would be cool even in the face of a certain crash, too, but I know there's no way I could predict my behavior with confidence. On the other hand, though, my impression is that pilots do routinely maintain control of their professionalism in such instances. I admit I don't fully know if my impression is supported by the facts, but if the impression is correct, then surely it's just a matter of training to be able to rely on a cool reaction from the trained person in most cases. Of course that would cost money...

In the case of pilots, don't they have to handle "emergency" situations on a flight simulator on a regular basis? Of course, controlling a plane is different from trying to control a panicky crowd of passengers. As unpredictable as a damaged or malfunctioning aircraft is, it's still a machine. Maybe that's easier to deal with.

Perhaps that is related...I suppose that the typical personality that FA recruiters look for (emotive, nurturing, empathetic, people-people types) are more likely to become emotional - not because we're "flighty", but because we're likely feed off the emotions of our passengers. Though the pilots I fly with are very cognizant of their passengers, they tend to be more pragmatic than empathetic - and of course there is the wall between them and the rest of us...

Although I don't disturb FAs giving the safety demonstration and even look at them without smiling or flirting, I cannot really imagine people behaving in an orderly fashion when the call to evacuate comes during an emergency. Just look at the general behaviour once the plane has landed. Everyone is ready to jump up as if the plane is on fire, needs to switch on their precious cell phone as if they need to attend to some urgent call that can't wait a few more minutes.

Do you really want me to believe the same people will not grab my oxygen mask once their 10 seconds of O2 are finished?
Will they wait for others to leave thru the emergency exit and take off their shoes before jumping on the chute?
Do you really think a 200+tonne aircraft will gently land on water, allowing everyone (100+ passengers) to put on their vests and sit in the inflatable chutes?

If you ask me, safety demonstrations are a farce. The move to run a video is much better than ask FAs to do the demonstration with a straight face.

Regards Oliver

I must say I don't remember ever having a bad experience with a FA. True enough, some are better than others and I agree that none of us know exactly how we would react in that situation. The point I want to make is what JimmyH said. Please don't compare yourself to a firefighter. Your not even close. While its true, some FA's have curled up in a ball crying instead of doing their job, you'd never see a firefighter go to his Captain and say, " sorry Captain, I know people are going to die, but I'm just not ready to go in there." Fa's should be respected like all people should be respected for the job they do. When I am a pax, especially in F, there is an expectaton of service.

Actually, that does happen. I worked in EMS for years, and I've seen it. It's all image...we have this image of firefighters as strong, enduringly brave, and handsome young men who will dive into the worst fire - no questions asked. The reality is that they do break under pressure, and they do get scared. (And few of them are really handsome...hehe). Contrast that with the well-worn image of FA's as hot young things who giggle and flirt, and do little more than pass out peanuts.

Those stereotypes exist on both sides of the fence, but that doesn't mean they're representative of the whole.

Yes, the pilots are trained on emergency situations. Each half a year they have a Recurrent training where all systems will be reviewed in case of failures. Examples are single engine landings, flame-outs at decisionspeeds or take offs, loss of compression etc. etc.

Don't worry about the professional skills during emergencies of an airline pilot.

My comment was not based on watching movies. I personally know more than one firefighter and while some of them are ego maniacts(spelling?), none the less they are brave as hell when it comes to getting the job done. And we could look at it a different way. When someone decides to become a FF, they take into count that possibly several times a day they may have to run into a burning structure. How many FA hopefulls take into account that they be in a burning crashing plane one day and be the last to leave? Not many I bet. But I'm not trying to take anything away from FA's. I couldn't do it. I'd surely loose my cool with an nasty pax. All I'm trying to say is that they shouldn't be held in the same regard as FF's, or police officers for that matter. At the end of the day, an FA's first priority should be service. Then if needed, they can use there other skills. If it wasn't for those skills you would be air based waitress's. Which I know your not. But your not making $5/hr + tips either.

This seems to happen more and more, announcements to the effect that "We're primarily there for your safety, that's a really really important job and it's been entrusted to us because we're so special, but in between doing our real job we might be able to come by and give you prretzels".

Just as in offices there are no secretaries any more, only personal assistants who do the work of secretaries (but never call them by the wrong name), FAs have developed this insecuirty about what they do. They want to be considered safety professionals; they do not want to be considered waiters. Of course waiters are professionals too, and I like to think (correctly or otherwise) that if I were a garbage collector (sorry, sanitation engineer) I would do that job proudly and pick up every scrap. But FAs aren't proud of what they have to do. And they don't get paid well (really they don't). So service standards have gone down, and we have a lot of snotty FAs whose idea of their job is to sit there pretending to be waiting for emergencies. "We may not be well paid, but we are more powerful than you right now, we can be rude to you and you can't be rude back because we'll have the plane diverted to Halifax."

Frankly, this is "dog bites man". The "man bites dog" news is when in spite of everything, you see many FAs who try to do their jobs well and are secure and confident and pleasant and eager to be of assistance. That, I don't understand.