I worked as a holiday rep for a while; one of my colleagues found himself in the unfortunate situation of having his first group of guests crash landing at the airport! Fortuantely everybody got out alive...
I though I'd summarise a few "tips" to keep all our valued forum members safe and well!!
Fortunately the chances of dying on a single aeroplane trip are very low. Something in the region of 53 million to 1 (The same odds of being killed in a single car trip about are 8 million to 1 - you are six and a half times more likely to die on a car trip.)
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Luckily if you find yourself on the wrong end of these statistics just remember that over 90% of plane crashes have survivors.
In the US between 1983 and 2000, there were 568 plane crashes. Out of the 53,487 people onboard, 51,207 survived.
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17% of crashes occur during take off and 51% during landing *2. Keep in the back of your mind what you would do in the event of an accident during these times (especially landing).
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There is no safest place to sit; if there is a fire at the back then you're safest at the front and vice versa. The important thing is to know where your exit is and how to get there. Plan your escape route! Count the seats in front or behind you so that you can feel your way in the event of a smoke filled cabin.
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Practice undoing your seatbelt. Often people find themselves "stuck" because they panic and cannot undo their lapbelt. Also keep your belt tight at all times, this keeps you secure in the event of a bumpy landing, a loose belt may injure your back making your exit slow, painful and difficult.
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Airlines dim the lights on landing this is so that you become acustomed to the light levels in the event of power failure during a crash landing. This way you can more easily find you way around, if you keep your reading light on you negate this benefit - so turn them off!
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Always adopt the brace possition as described by the crew in your particular aeroplane. This reduces the stress on your body at the point of impact improving your chances of getting yourself out alive.
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In the event of smoke always get low adn try to follow the emergency lighting, it will lead you straight to an exit.
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If you crash into water, never inflate your lifejacket before you exit the plane. Try to get into he life raft as fast as possible, if this is not possible, group together with other survivors, you are much safer in a group.
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It also matters with whom you fly. Flying with one of the 25 airlines with the best records results in a 1 in 4.25 million chance of being involved in a fatal crash. Flying with an airline which is in the bottom 25 in terms of safetly records gives you a 1 in 386,000 chance of being involved in a fatal crash. *3
Airlines that have not had a fatal accident include: Virgin Atlantic (Virgin Express & Virgin Sun), Aerolineas, Air 2000, Air Jamaica, Air Kazakstan, Britannia, Emirates and Qatar Airways, although there are actually many more than this. You could always ask before you fly!
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Happy (and safe) flying tipsters!
*1 NTSB Accidents and Accident Rates by NTSB Classification 1995-2004
*2 Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, Boeing
*3 BACK Associates and PlaneCrashInfo.com accident database, 1981 - 2004