Safety While Flying

Air travel is extremely safe mostly due to the rules and regulations brought around by airline companies for passengers to follow during their flight. From simple requests such as asking passengers to keep their seat belt on throughout the flight to safety briefing cards in the seat pockets. These following tips can make your flight safer as well as giving you peace of mind if anything were to happen. In any case this can make any anxiety surrounding flying lessen and will help with nerves throughout the flight. 

Emergency Exit
If you sit in an emergency exit row of the plane you may be told by flight attendants that you will be needed in the event where an emergency occurs. However, there are limitations to the person that gets to sit in the emergency exit rows as they must be willing to perform acts such as being physically capable of performing procedures such as opening and operating the exit row door as well as being above a certain age. If you're not sitting in an emergency exit row it would be handy to know where your nearest emergency exit is, the reason behind this being  that if the plane fills with smoke you won't be able to see where the exit is and how long it would take to crawl there. It would be advisable to remember what row your seat is in, this allowing you to calculate how long it would take to get to the nearest emergency exit if your visibility is impaired. 

Dress Sensibly
As much as everyone loves looking their best for the airport and their flight, which I will never understand since I prefer comfort over looks, you'll end up regretting it if an emergency occurred. Shoes such as heels are one of the worst choices to wear on a flight for two reasons: if there was an emergency you wouldn't be able to get far in heels as well as having your feet burned when you've turned to walking barefoot on whatever ground you have landed on. Even shoes such as flip flops are not the most sensible choice of footwear while flying, the main reason behind this being the same as wearing heels, you're not able to get far in them especially in the event of an emergency. Other fashion choices that I wouldn't advise would be wearing shorts as the reason behind this being if you had to use the slide to exit the plane then your thighs will be burned if you're one of the last to exit the plane and if it's extremely hot that day. 

Safety Briefing Video & Card
I know for a fact that most people on a plane are either talking to their friend, trying to update their Facebook status before they go into the air or just generally zoning out while flight attendants explain safety procedures. As much as we all find this boring, how do we think the flight attendants feel, but there is a reason for this repetitive briefing. Each plane has new safety requirements, whether it be the change of where the emergency exits are located or where your life jackets are located, it's important to listen to these safety announcements. Especially in the spur of the moment your thought may be impaired as an emergency is obviously unexpected but the priority would be to either know how to exit the plane, how to adjust your oxygen mask or to inflate your life jacket. ​ When the flight attendants recommend wearing your seat belt throughout the entire flight, they're not saying this just for fun, there's more chance of turbulence happening than any other emergency. 

Well-being & Surroundings
Every passenger should be well rested so that if there was an emergency they would be alert and be able to clearly listen to instructions given. I don't mean that passengers should have a full 8 hour sleep before flying as sometimes that isn't possible, I mean to refrain from drinking too much alcohol before or on their flight. Alcohol doesn't help someone having a clear head in the case of an emergency but it even can delay other passengers from exiting the plane. If you've had a bit too much to drink the last thing you would want is for someone to force an oxygen mask over your mouth even though it could be the thing that saves your life, leading to other passengers and flight attendants having to work a lot harder to ensure passengers safety. Drinking alcohol will also lead to dehydration so a cheaper and preferable choice would be to drink water - it would keep you hydrated and even better it's good for your body. When flight attendants say that they're not serving you anymore alcohol, respect their decisions, they risk their lives to save yours in the event of an emergency. If you're on a long haul flight and you're using your own devices to occupy your mind, it would be important to keep an eye on the screen in front of you as any important transmissions will be shown on the screen. If you're listening to music it would be advisable to turn your music down for just a minute so you can listen to what's being announced, it could be something small such as the plane hitting a small bit of turbulence or in a worst case scenario asking passengers to prepare themselves for an emergency landing. 

Emergency Kit
If there was an emergency on a plane and everyone had to evacuate you'd have around 40 seconds to get from your seat to exiting the plane altogether. I always carry a small cross body bag which has everything I need in it: my passport, identification, bank cards and my medication. I carry this bag on my body throughout the entire flight as if there were an emergency then I would have everything I need on me and I could leave the plane as soon as I was able to. If I moved some of my important possessions such as my medication or my passport into my hand luggage, such as an suitcase in the overhead locker, then I would either have the choice of exiting the plane with nothing or risk my life by staying to get my personal belongings. Clothing and other belongings can always be replaced, there's nothing more important than your life, in this sense it's your favourite pair of shoes or your life - an easy choice. 

Stay Calm
Even though this is easier said than done since it's hard to stay calm in the event of an emergency, it would help the situation. Panic can impair thought and this makes you more likely to make mistakes, mistakes that could delay your evacuation from the plane or adjusting your oxygen masks, a small mistake could cost you your life. If you've listened to the safety instructions then you have nothing to fear, there is always the safety card in the seat pocket that clearly shows and describes what you would need to do in the event of an emergency. Flight attendants have been trained for every possible situation and have passengers safety as a priority so there is completely nothing to worry about. There is a much bigger chance that you'll be involved in a traffic accident rather than one involving flying, there are rarely any major accidents.