Infant seat belts
 

Just travelled with TG from Krabi to BKK and was very surprised to see the plane take off with unsecured infants on passengers laps, the cabin crew were quite clearly aware of this. i checked with the cabin manager and he told me that it was new international regulations that infants should not be secured. I find this very surprising so would like a second opinion (or lots more I expect)

Another concern is that as the parents did not have a lap belt for the infant then it could not be secured in the event of turbulance, I will be taking my grandchildren on BA shortly so am interested in this issue.

I don't make a habit of questioning issues like this but it really seemed unusual

Ready for incoming

Its all down to the local regulator, here in UK CAA require any infant under 2 years to be secured using an infant belt attatched to the parents, or in an approved car seat. In USA FAA require no restraint despite the NTSB recommending them after the Soiux City crash in 1989!

In my near-to ten years as cabin crew in Australia I have operated under the following rules regarding infant seatbelts.

They were on board but only available on request from the pax (we could not offer them).

They were removed completely.

They are now mandatory for all lap pax.

I worked for an canadian airline in Europe for a year and the regulations there were not to use infant seatbelts even though they were onboard. Eventually after some major complaints by the crew we were allowed to use them at our discretion.

As oldbalboy noted, each regulatory authority establishes their own requirements in relation to the restraint of lap-held infants. With regards to the use of the infant loop belts, while a number of aviation authorities still require its use, others have chosen to no longer permit its use due to testing and research related to the hazard it poses. One example of such a report is from Germany:

Of course, the safest route to take is to purchase a seat for your infant and have them secured in an approved child restraint system, not on your lap. One other alternative that you might also be aware of is the AmSafe CARES device that is now available for use. Quite a few authorities have indicated that they will accept its use on board, including the UK CAA.

The entire 'safety world' cannot grasp this issue. One one hand it is, in many places, illegal to have a child in a car unrestrained. On another, it seems acceptable to have several kilos of unrestrained child potentially projected into the cabin.

What is the solution? The 'relative dynamics' of small children and adults are comprehensible, especially as I could be killed by the impact of a flying child.

So where does one go?

1. "Child Seats" on aircraft? Who pays? The childless, of course. Unless it's Ryanair, where other principles may exist.
2. Banning small children on aircraft on safety grounds? That gets my vote on numerous counts, not all associated with safety.

Not an easy one, but it seems to need addressing.

funny how safety can have double standard.

For some airlines they don't use extension seat belts for infants and some will.

After having had the experience of flying through more or less heavy turbulence on a couple of occasions, and having flown with my baby many times recently, I would vote for the infant seat belts being made compulsory with no hesitation.

Banning small children on aircraft on safety grounds? That gets my vote on numerous counts, not all associated with safety

TheTiresome, us people with family also need to travel, and all of us were children once, and all cried loudly when we were not confortable. :}

I could be killed by the impact of a flying child.

By your moving and selfless "concern" about the implications of being suddently thrown into the air for the child's life, I take it you don't like children, or people who decide to have children, for that matter.

Or is it tongue in cheek? :)

Infant seatbelts should be mandatory with all airlines for the safety of the child and other passengers. We have weight restrictions for carry on luggage, which must be secured, an infant is no different. In the case of unanticipated severe turbulance or extreme altitude drop which as we all know can happen at ANY time and HAS caused major injury any unsecured object INCLUDING infants can cause serious injury to others, not forgetting the poor child. Our policy is to ensure infants are secured by a belt for take off/landing/whenever the seatbelt sign is on. I instruct even frequent travellers of the operation of the belt, to ensure that in an emergency and we need to evacuate they unfasten BOTH belt buckles. I also insruct the parent to hold the infant forward facing for take off and landing due to the brace position as the baby will then also naturally bend forward. So many times I have seen infants sitting facing the parent and think if the parent must brace suddenly they are going to snap the child in half. From the recent occurances of severe turbulance and altitude drops wouldn't you feel more comfortable with your child secured. If a plane can suddenly drop 400ft, pax injured by falling/flying luggage, where is your infant going to end up unless secured by an infant seatbelt. We are much more at risk of severe turbulance than experiencing a crash landing/takeoff.