This will be for me the first time I publish something here on this weblog. I am not very good at this kind of things, but still it looks fun to me.
As might be known, I am working as a flight attendant for a large airline company. Yesterday I found this nice article online about things and facts that not everyone may know about flying. I thought I may share those here (after discussing it with Rob, who thought right away it was a great idea).
So I copied those things I know also from my own experience and adjusted it where needed.
Have fun with it 🙂
Turbulence
It is nearly impossible for turbulence to crash a plane (even the bad stuff). Turbulence is only dangerous because of things flying around the cabin and that includes people not wearing seat belts. Most accidents happen at take off and landing that’s why we make you do all of those things before take off and landing.
The plane can move like a seesaw so seats nearest to the wings can have the least turbulence and seats farthest away will be the worst.
Fun times
on trans-oceanic flights there is a cabin for crew to get some sleep. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times. On some newer planes there’s also a hold for people who have died on the flight. No, you won’t be invited in for fun times either.
Sex
We know if you’re having sex in the bathroom. It happens all the time. We can also open the doors, easily, from the outside.
Problems with the aircraft
Lots of passengers panic when the flight is delayed for technical reasons or when they see the maintenance guys board the aircraft. Lets clear some stuff up.
If you see mechanics running around, that’s actually a good thing. It just means we’re aware of a problem and won’t budge until it has been resolved. Much better to be aware of a problem on the ground than at 36000 feet!
The pilots do thorough pre-flight checks to make sure that everything is okay, and the engineers check the aircraft at the end of the day. Flying is safer now than it ever has been, no need to worry!
Don’t say ‘bomb’
DON’T say, “bomb” on an air plane. Don’t even joke about it. DON’T. SAY. BOMB. It is not funny at all!
Don’t try to get into the cockpit
We have fire axes and extremely heavy emergency equipment on board and are under orders to stop you entering the cockpit by ‘any means necessary’. Just saying.
Smoking
Smoking really is an issue on board, please please don’t do it. We’re all trained in fire fighting but it’s still extremely dangerous to do so on board. Vaping on the other hand is completely harmless but forbidden anyway, purely because it may entice other passengers to light up real smokes.
Being drunk
You get drunk quicker on board due to the air pressure (or something) and we don’t tolerate drunken bull crap. It’s not a bar; you don’t just get thrown out by the bouncer. You get off-loaded and possibly even black listed. If you’re clearly loaded before we’ve even taken off, then chances are you’re not going to be going anywhere.
Changing baby diaper
DON’T CHANGE YOUR BABY’S DIAPER ON THE TRAY TABLE. This happens all the time. It’s unsanitary! People use the tray table to eat, put their personal things on, etc.
Lifting bags
it is NOT the responsibility of a flight attendant to lift your bag. There have been multiple injuries caused by flight attendants lifting heavy bags to be friendly, and then they’re out of their job for months or even years. If you pack it, you lift it. If it’s too heavy for you, it’s too heavy for us.
Elder and disabled people are here the exception to the rule.
In case of events
In the event of a situation where passengers have to cover their heads you should not ‘lock’ your fingers over your head. Instead, place one hand on top of the other. That way, if something falls on your hand/head, you’ll still have one good hand to use.
Delays
One thing people definitely should know is that a surprising amount of the delays that happen are due to passengers. Yep, passengers.
That one guy who throws a fit because he can’t take four ounces of liquid through TSA and decided the gate agent was a great target to take out their wrath on caused your delay. So did that family that decided it was a great idea to bring three strollers and two car seats for their single child.
And that last delay you had that the agent told you was due to maintenance? Was thanks to some guy trying to steal a smoke alarm from the plane.
(Credit photo’s: Gecas, Britsch Airways, KLM)
Learned some things from this article. Thank you Patricia!
Indeed Patricia, so many things people are not aware of when it comes down to flying.