Pre flight safety announcement

[Ozzy]

probably one of the best (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ta9ltJGxjk), I think it is Southwest from the livery of the wing tip. :D

Ozzy

[drichard]

:D I haven't laughed so much at a cabin announcement in ages (I now have to clean sprayed tea from my monitor!!) That is certainly one of the best pre-flight safety announcements I've ever heard.

[barry lloyd]

I, whose first language is English, found that difficult to understand, even allowing for the vagaries of YouTube. The guy gabbles his way through the entire briefing, and I would love to know what percentage of those on board actually understood what he was saying, remembering that a lot of people in the US do not have English as their first language.
This kind of thing is whimsical - until something goes wrong, that is. I'm all for making flying as pleasant as possible, and I've travelled with Southwest a number of times, and frequently heard their jokey comments e.g. "If you leave any personal items on board, you can get them on eBay tomorrow," but there is a limit.

[strake]

I admit, I had prejudged this and was ready to rubbish it....but if that was real, it's the funniest thing I have heard to to with aviation. The punch line..sit back and relax..has got to me, I have tears friends, tears....
Quick, very funny and gets the message across...some learning here for other airlines....

[old,not bold]

Sums up why the ritual cabin safety briefing is such a fatuous, pointless process, which wouldn't matter if it were not the reason that the industry fails miserably to find a better way to inform passengers.

When wannabee actors make a mockery of it, it's time to rethink.

[strake]

Sums up why the ritual cabin safety briefing is such a fatuous, pointless process, which wouldn't matter if it were not the reason that the industry fails miserably to find a better way to inform passengers.
When wannabee actors make a mockery of it, it's time to rethink.
It's not their fault, they have to do it by law and if it's a choice between that and Virgins video production (with credits for Gods sake) or BA, I'll take that every time......
That guy should be in Health and Safety...might bring some sense back to the world.....

[TightSlot]

Sums up why the ritual cabin safety briefing is such a fatuous, pointless process, which wouldn't matter if it were not the reason that the industry fails miserably to find a better way to inform passengers.

When wannabee actors make a mockery of it, it's time to rethink.

It may be easier to identify the problem rather than the solution - any suggestions anybody?

[old,not bold]

Tightslot, I sense a challenge above!

As credentials; I've been in the industry for 38 years, including time standing in as a cabin attendant in the days before training and qualifications became desirable. I've worked at most levels in most parts of an airline, including managing a start-up. I imagine I must have heard the safety briefing once every 2 weeks or so on average in that time, ie fewer times than professional crew but more often than many. I've been involved - as a passenger - in a runway over-run on landing, two hijacks, and several lesser emergencies such as engine failure on take-off etc, and observed how people react in these situations. (Which is why I don't have much time for the evacuation time tests carried out by manufacturers).

The requirement is based on the fact that no-one dares to say, about any safety-related practice, that it's time to drop it. We add rules all the time, but very few if any are dropped when they reach the end of their usefulness.

The briefing was introduced when flying was a rare event for most, many passengers on any sector were on their first flight, and aircraft were markedly different in their design, safety feature and escape routes.

These days none of that applies. Most importantly 99% of everyone on board has heard the briefing several times in the last 2-3 years, and of them many could recite it in their sleep.

The result is that those people ignore it totally, with the result that if there is an emergency and they are required to act quickly and decisively to save their lives, and the lives of others by doing so, they probably won't because they have to think first about what they can recall.

A better way must therefore be found, based on the knowledge that all, or very nearly all the passengers are aware of the exits, how to put on a lifejacket and when to inflate it, the underfloor lighting, how to fasten a seat belt, the need to put the tray up, and to have the seat upright (not a problem on Ryanair, of course). We can also count on a number of very experienced passengers in any cabin.

Everyone is also aware that aircraft can and do have accidents, although very rarely. There's no need to use patronising and silly expressions like "in the unlikely event of....". Passengers are not stupid; some may have flown more often than the more junior of the cabin crew.

My solution is therefore an announcement such as "If we experience an accident, you will need to immediately take the appropriate action, under guidance from the cabin crew. To do this, you must be aware of all the safety features and what to do in an emergency, which are described on the card in the seat pocket. Careful study of this may save your life".

However, we need some facts. To get them we should test verbally 1:10 passengers - selected randomly, regardless of age or language - on their instant recall of what to do in an emergency, which exit to go for, how etc. Also ask them to "don" a lifejacket, while remaining in the seat. Time allowed 30 secs. The test should be carried out during the descent. This survey should be done on 100 flights where the safety briefing is run as normal, 100 where no annoncement whatsoever is made, and 100 where the announcement is something like my suggestion (with improved cards!).

Any airline brave enough to take up the challenge?

It's not the announcement per se I'm against. It's the fact that it's so ineffective.

PS I'll own up re the lifejacket test...we tried that once, years ago. Success rate (ie on correctly within the time limit) about 4%. 13% of the LJs were inflated, some because that's what the wearer thought he/she should do, the others accidentally.

[strake]

old, not bold

There is hope for common sense....you have eloquently put into words what many frequent travellers feel.

[PAXboy]

O N B Your straight forward setting out of the problem and a possible route out of it, are a welcome breath of fresh air.

The statement about witnessing pax not putting on their life jacket in the time and manner prescribed speaks volumes and is the kind of empirical information entirely absent from the planning of these matters.

As we all know, the so called 'safety' regulations are made by politicians and they have the sole intention of @rse covering. Which means that there will be no revision of these rules until enough prangs have proved that they make no difference!

I, too, have never set any store by manufacturers being able to achieve tests on the ground within a highly structured environment. They are only of certification interest, not even academic interest.

Lastly, with your experience so tantalisingly sketched out, are you writing a book? If not, have you considered the opportunity to tell the truth - if only as a warning to be ignored?

[TightSlot]

ONB - yes, it was a challenge, made in the hope that intelligent suggestions and discussion would evolve as a result.

Seems to have worked...

:)

[barry lloyd]

Old not bold and paxboy:
You have both encapsulated the problems/background involved in this whole safety briefing situation.
Like you ONB, I have been flying both at the front and the back, since the days of the DC-3, and have been subjected to various 'unforseen circumstances' whilst flying. The reaction of most of the passengers in these cases was not reassuring!
As a former employee of a manufacturer, and having taken part in one of the evacuations required to gain certification, I would endorse your comments.
The advent of floor strip lighting came about following the Airtours accident at MAN in 1985, precisely because so many of the passengers could not find their way to exits, partly because of the smoke, but also because they were not sure where they were. Several of the cabin crew died in this fire, and were thus unable to help the passengers, so the very reason for their existence was immediately negated. Videos are better, (though sadly not the VS one imho), but to have some wannabee comedian doing the briefing is definitely not the way forward.
One step forward has been to deny seats to those unwilling or unable to operate the emergency exits, and to brief those willing to operate the equipment. A follow-up random questioning of the pax on the other procedures eg "Do you know where your nearest exit is?/Would you inflate your lifejacket before leaving the aircraft?/Where will the oxygen masks appear from etc?" would probably provoke aggression amongst some of those who answered incorrectly, such is the world we live in.
I wonder, in the case of the SW guy, how many pax would have taken out lawsuits against him/them, on the basis that the briefing was not conducted in the normal fashion, had the worst happened?

[Avman]

on the basis that the briefing was not conducted in the normal fashion

I argue that unusual deliveries of the very important safety briefing command far more attention than the boring and patronising examples. Take note that all the important bits are included as per requirement. Of course, I accept that one can also argue that by the time you hear the amusing version for the 5th time it will have as much impact as the stiff boring by-the-book version. No can win.