In-flight safety demonstration
Encyclopedia
Takeoff
Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle goes from the ground to flying in the air.For horizontal takeoff aircraft this usually involves starting with a transition from moving along the ground on a runway. For balloons, helicopters and some specialized fixed-wing aircraft , no...
to airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
passengers about the safety features of a commercial aircraft.
On smaller aircraft this may take place in the form of a live briefing performed by flight attendants standing up in the aisles, while another flight attendant narrates over the public address system. On many larger aircraft equipped with in-flight entertainment
In-flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America...
, safety demonstrations may take place in the form of a video, which typically lasts 2 to 6 minutes. In consideration for travelers not speaking the airline's official language and for the passengers with hearing problems, the video may feature subtitle
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
s, an on-screen signer
Sign language on television
Sign language on television is the use of a signer for a television programme. The signer usually appears in the bottom corner of the screen, with the programme being broadcast full size or slightly shrunk away from that corner....
, or may be repeated in another language. Some safety videos are made using three dimensional graphics.
By 2009 several airlines have striven to make distinctive safety videos. Many safety videos were uploaded to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.Cebu Pacific
Cebu Pacific
Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific Air, is based on the grounds of Ninoy Aquino International Airport , Pasay City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations...
choreographed the entire demonstration to Lady Gaga's
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
Just Dance and Katy Perry's
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
California Gurls
California Gurls
"California Gurls" is an electropop song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry and is the lead single of her third studio album, Teenage Dream. The song features rapper Snoop Dogg, and was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco. According to Perry, the song is an answer song to...
as an experiment during one of their flights.
Safety demonstrations are required by the basic international air safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
.
A safety demonstration typically covers all these aspects, not necessarily in this order:
- a reminder to review the aircraft safety cardAircraft safety cardAn aircraft safety card is a document instructing passengers on an aircraft about the procedures for dealing with various emergency conditions that might arise during the flight....
- remind the passengers about the brace positionBrace positionBracing or crash position is an instruction that can be given to prepare for a crash, such as on an aircraft, the instruction to brace for impact is often given if the aircraft must make an emergency landing over land or water....
when they hear the instruction "brace brace!" (not required by the FAA(US) and Transport Canada) - the use of the seat beltSeat beltA seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
. Some airlines recommend that they keep their seatbelt fastened at all times in case of unexpected turbulenceTurbulenceIn fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
. - the requirement that passengers must comply with lighted signs, posted placards, and crew members instructions (Generally only included in safety demonstrations on US and New Zealand carriers as the FAA (US) and CAA (NZ) require it to be stated)
- the location and use of the emergency exitEmergency exitAn emergency exit in a structure is a special exit for emergencies such as a fire: the combined use of regular and special exits allows for faster evacuation, while it also provides an alternative if the route to the regular exit is blocked by fire, etc....
s, evacuation slideEvacuation slideAn evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers would be unable to "step down" from the door uninjured An evacuation slide is...
s and emergency floor lighting - the use of the oxygen maskEmergency oxygen systemAircraft emergency oxygen systems are emergency equipment fitted to commercial aircraft, intended for use when the cabin pressurisation system has failed and the level of oxygen in the cabin atmosphere drops below a safe level...
- the location and use of the life vests, life rafts and flotation devices (not typically included if the flight does not overfly or fly near vast masses of water)
- the use of passenger seat cushions as flotation devices (typically only included on aircraft that do not provide life vests)
- generally, a reminder not to smoke on board, including the toilets
- reminder not to tamper with or disable lavatory smoke detectors (required on United States and some Mexican Flights)
- the precautions to take before take-off and landing:
- to stow luggage under a seat or in an overhead compartment
- to return folding trays and seat backs to the upright position
- to turn off most electronic devices (laptopLaptopA laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
s, mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, etc.)
If an emergency happens once airborne, flight attendants are trained to calmly brief passengers with emergency procedures quickly.
Airline safety videos
- Air Austral B777 at Vibrason Productions (French and English) at PrisLogix YouTube account
- Air New Zealand
- at the official Air New Zealand YouTube channel
- at the official Air New Zealand YouTube channel
- at the official Air New Zealand YouTube channel
- at the official Air New Zealand YouTube channel at Continental YouTube account
- Corsairfly 747 at Vibrason Productions (French and English)
- Delta Air Lines
- on the official Delta Air Lines channel
- on the official Delta Air Lines channel (English with English and Spanish subtitles)
- on the official Delta Air Lines channel (English with English and Japanese subtitles)
- B767-300ER at Nmedia.com
- on the official Delta Air Lines channel (English with English and Hindi subtitles) on the official LAN Airlines channel (Spanish and English) on the official LAN Airlines channel (Spanish and English)
- Luxair B737 on the In-Visible Studio website on the official Hue Visual Lab Channel
- Malev 737-800 and Malev 767-200ER (English) at travelandmedia.com
- Malev 737-800 and Malev 767-200ER (Hungarian and English) at travelandmedia.com on the official AmbientMedia YouTube channel
- Royal Jordanian Airline A320 and A340 at travelandmedia.com (Arabic and English) on Pitel Marcelo's account (Portuguese) on the Pixellabs YouTube channel (Portuguese with English subtitles) on the Pixellabs YouTube channel (Portuguese) on the Thomson Holidays YouTube channel on the LetVAFly official channel
Live demonstrations
- Northwest Airlines Safety Demo Audio and Script at youtube.com
Other
- Plane Speaking - The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
- Pixel Labs page about TAM safety video