In the latest airline turbulence “incident,” nobody died, although from based on published reports, as in the San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, a few people came pretty close.
In brief, a United Airlines 777 en-route from Dulles to Los Angeles, not exactly a small plane, was hit by such severe and sudden turbulence over Missouri, that over 20 people were injured, and one woman reported “jolted out of her seat so forcefully that she left a crack when she hit the side of the cabin.”
Most of the time, I consider myself on the libertarian side of so-called “nanny-laws.” I have mixed feelings about helmet laws with motorcycles and feel that if someone wants to open a restaurant that allows smoking, they should have that right.
We live in a democratic society and in general, the rules and laws are moving more towards protecting people, whether they want it or not. Unfortunately, as good as radar and other detection systems are getting, some turbulence is still apparently unforeseeable.
Given this trend towards protection, why doesn’t the FAA simply state “Airline passengers need to keep seat belts on at all times when they are sitting in their seats.”
I do understand the need to move around — not just for lavatory visits, especially for passengers who may have circulatory problems, and on long flights. And most travelers at some point or another realize they really shouldn’t have put some item in their overhead bins. Or, it becomes time for a change in reading material.
But when actually sitting down, I don’t see the point of sitting without a seat belt. It’s not as if these things are tourniquets or as if having a seatbelt off means any more legroom.
Even a loosely fastened seatbelt means much less chance of being thrown around the cabin. A friend pointed out that perhaps the “You are now free to move around the cabin,” phrase dates from the days when airlines actually had things like pubs and piano bars on some of their planes and when going to the galley for free snacks was an option.
The airlines have rules for everything from overhead bin weight, to cramming stuff in the seatpocket, to keeping the floor area in front of the seat clear.
Not to mention all the TSA restrictions. Personally, while I dutifully follow the 3 ounce rule, it seems to me passengers are a lot more at risk from sitting unbelted in their seats than from any larger bottles of liquids.
What do you think, Consumer Traveler readers?
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
