Last week a US Airways plane made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. Flight 2588 landed safely, but didn’t taxi to the gate. The 52 passengers and 4 crew members evacuated the plane onto the runway soon after it came to a stop.
Chelsea Deluvac echoed what other passengers said once in the terminal, “At first, I just started smelling something really weird. It kind of smelled like somebody lit a match or something.” Passengers in the back of the plane smelled the smoke too.
No one was injured, but some were shaken. Susan Lawley said, “My heart was trembling but only because we didn’t know what was going on.”
Over the weekend a number of travelers asked me if there’s anything special they could do in the event of emergency, such as fire or smoke in the plane.
There are important steps passengers should take immediately upon boarding.
Often, once I’ve settled into my seat on the plane, after stowing my carry-on, and completing my prefight, I scan the cabin and watch other passengers. More often than not, I see them stow their carry-on, then immediately pull out a book, or take the airline magazine out of the seat pouch and start reading, or continue to use their cellphone or otherwise occupy themselves.
When the flight attendant gives the preflight safety talk, I see passengers’ eyes glaze over and ignore the talk. Of course, all of that is the wrong thing to do.
Once you stow your carry-on and take your seat, you should complete what I call the air passenger preflight checklist.
• Read the airplane safety information card.
• Note the location of the exits both in front and behind you, on both sides of the airplane.
• Devise an evacuation plan. Count the rows from yours to the nearest exits forward and aft, and make a mental note of those numbers. If the plane fills with smoke you’ll likely have difficultly seeing very far in front of you, and you may become quickly disoriented. If you count rows, you can get to an exit even if you can’t see it by feeling and counting the seat-backs as you go past them. You need to know the location of multiple exits in case any are blocked or unusable.
• Check under your seat for a life vest. Make sure you can pull it out. While some flights may not have life vests, most still do. If your plane is equipped with them, but yours is missing, report it to your flight attendant immediately, and politely insist they put one in.
Once you’ve completed your preflight, you can relax until the flight attendant begins the preflight safety speech. Even if you’ve “heard it before,” many models of the same plane are a bit different, airline to airline, and even within the same airline. It’s even a good idea to refresh your memory about the plane.
About 80 percent of accidents occur during the first 3 to 5 minutes of flight, and the last 10 minutes, so stay alert during those times of your flight.
During the beginning and end of your flight, keep your shoes on, don’t use a sleep mask, earplugs, or headset. If it’s cold outside, have your jacket or coat with you in case you need to evacuate the plane. Stay alert, don’t try to sleep until your flight’s take-off is complete.
If you’re alerted to prepare for an emergency or “crash landing,” stay calm, the odds are with you. According to the National Transportation Safety Board air accident statistics, between 1983 and 2000, 95.7 percent of the passengers survived.
Put your seat belt on, and fasten it as tightly as possible. Put on your life vest, if instructed, but don’t inflate it until you’re outside the plane. Recall the evacuation plan you devised in your preflight. Remove anything sharp from your clothing. Take out your dentures. Remove high-heeled shoes which shouldn’t be warn while flying, and put away your eyeglasses. If water is handy, moisten a handkerchief, headrest cover or shirttail, to use if there’s smoke after impact, to hold over your mouth as a smoke filter while evacuating the plane.
If you have time, put on your sweater or coat (under your life vest) if it’s cold. Put essential medicines in your pockets. Cover your head if you can. Cross your arms over your calves and grab your ankles if you’re in an exit or bulkhead row. If behind a seat, put your palms-forward, crossed wrists between your head and the seat in front of you, and slide your legs underneath the seat in front.
Once down, after the plane comes to a stop, get out of the plane as fast as you can.
Don’t wait for flight attendant instructions. They may be dazed or injured and can’t give directions. As soon as the plane comes to a stop move quickly to the nearest exit.
Don’t take anything with you. You’ll need your hands free to keep your balance in the aisle to step over debris or luggage or if pushed by passengers, who might be panicking. If the aisle is blocked, walk over the seats backs.
Under no circumstances crawl on the floor to avoid smoke as you might be trampled by other passengers.
If there’s smoke, look down and follow the floor lights to the exit. Count rows by feeling seats. At an exit, the floor lights should be red, not white.
At the exit door, if it’s not open, before opening it, look out its window to see if there’s fire. If there is, go to the other side of the plane and check that door.
Whatever you do, don’t panic. Stay calm. Use your evacuation plan.
You’ll likely be able to count yourself in the survivor group, and live to travel another day.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
