View Full Version : window blinds down immediately after t/o - why?
windy1
13th Sep 2004, 14:20
Leaving LAX on VS024 for LHR 25 Aug, cabin crew requested blinds drawn just after t/o.
Usual reasons (movies, sleeping through the dawn) obviously didn't apply, so why?
eal401
13th Sep 2004, 14:24
Was it a daylight flight?
windy1
13th Sep 2004, 18:13
eal401
negative - 20:50 scheduled departure
redsnail
13th Sep 2004, 19:23
Just a thought. Since the a/c was departing at night, I gather it would land close to dawn? If so, then the sun will come blazing through the windows.
I gather it's easier to ask folks to shut the blinds early in the flight rather than wake every one up a few hours later.
Redsnail
What excellent lateral thinking. !!
MerchantVenturer
14th Sep 2004, 10:19
My wife suffers from a mild form of claustrophobia that can sometimes discomfort her on long flights in particular.
Anything up to a couple of hours is normally not a problem but beyond this she sometimes feels hemmed in and liable to a panic attack.
The situation is invariably lessened if she can see outside. On long flights we have almost always managed to get a window seat for her through the good offices of the airlines and a doctor's letter. We then leave the blind up all the time even at night because, psychologically, this helps her although it is dark outside the window.
We have never been asked to lower the blind - perhaps we have been lucky.
My wife is still not a keen flyer but the stress she suffers prior to a long flight is through wondering whether she will get a window seat rather than the fear of flying itself.
I wonder what any cabin staff member would do in such a situation as my wife's when normally they might ask for the blinds to be lowered. Would her condition take precedence over someone wanting to get a better view of a television screen?