It's not something I've ever thought of before. I just take it for granted that we have them, just like seat belts in a car.
Anyway, I'm flying off to the African continent in a few hours and I got to thinking "what possible use are they if the plane crashes".
The answer came very easily to me. If the plane crashes, and nobody is wearing a seat belt, it would be a nightmare trying to identify the bodies (or parts of).
If however we were all wearing seatbelts, most people would still be attached to their seat. This would make it easier to identify what's left, by the seat allocation on the passenger manifest.


So what the airlines don't tell us is, they're absolutely nothing to do with safety, and all about identification. Am I right?

 

Turbulence?

 

Dunno about that.

I do know it's safer to fly sitting backwards......and the brace position will snap your neck

 

Turbulence, air-pockets etc can sometimes be pretty severe. I still remember a story from the ex of a friend of mine who worked as cabin-crew - on one occasion she was sitting on the loo and the plane dropped so severely that she departed from the loo seat and hit her head on the ceiling

 

What people often don't think about is that it isn't all about "plane hits mountain, people die".

If you're taxiing and something goes wrong, you could fall out your seat and crack your head, fall onto someone else, or even break a finger!

If there's turbulence, its the same deal.

I fly a LOT, and it always winds me up when some clever pillock decides to take his seat belt off towards the end of taxi or similar, as it isn't just their safety their risking, and it isn't just about whether you'll die or not - there's a whole hill of pretty nasty stuff that can before it gets to that stage.

Being so exposed to the sharp ends of both motorsport and aviation, you come to realise that safety really is important, as there's just no point in risking it.

 

I'd have the handles of the overheads wired with seatbelt sign but at a much higher voltage, within a week everybody would be cured of that little bit.

Mate of mine was on a plane that had a jerk as it was approaching the gate, standing up knobber got thrown to the floor, broke his leg and held up everyone else for 45 mins while he was treated and they got steps for the back door.

 

I don't think you are, no.

First of all, if I knew I was on a plane that was going to crash, but I had a bit of time to act, I would make sure I moved to the safest empty seat I could find, if I wasn't already in what I consider a safe seat (near an exit and with lots of room in front of you so you don't break your legs on the seat in front, or better still, the stewardesses' jump seats). Therefore I wouldn't be where the seat manifest placed me. I've got on planes to find people sitting in my seat plenty of times too; I only bother to ask them to move if the plane is quite full and I can't see an equally good available seat for me. Also, after a big crash it might well be harder to identify which seat has which number than the identity of the bodies strapped to them. For these reasons, the authorities would still have to use dental records or whatever to identify the bodies.

Obviously the seat belts aren't going to help you much in a bad crash but then nothing would. Where they will help is minor accidents (such as gear-up landings) or in severe turbulence where they will hold you to the seat to prevent you injuring yourself or others by flying about the cabin. A commercial aircraft has such inertia it's never going to stop suddenly enough to warrant 3 or 4 point belts, or if it does then the injuries from your 2 point belt will be the least of your concerns!

 

that is the plan, if you are going down, they want you to die quick so you dont "claim for whippy"

 

Now, I know this is a freighter but its the kind of thing I wear my belt for when on a plane.

YouTube - 747-200 Freighter Running of the Runway and crashes

 

Surely though, for bumps on the runway, turbulence etc, a belt round your waist isn't going to prevent your upper torso from moving. So you can still easily get whiplash and stuff even when wearing your seatbelt.
So I still stand by my original theory.

 

what a nonsense post. Its like saying why have belts in cars because if you hit the back of a truck at 100mph it wont save you.

there are thousands of ways you could fall from your seat that dont include slamming into a mountain......look up some in flight footage of turbulence and see how you'd like to crack on your head on the storage locker!

 

The vast majority of people involved in plane crashes survive.

 

If you think that in a big plane crash you get intact bodies left then think again - having a seat belt around you "may" keep the torso in place, but the limbs will be scattered around.

BTW - have a nice flight.

 

don't kmow if its tru or not, but somebody once said it's cheaper for you to die in a air crash rather than survive as a cripple ??

Payout wise

 

Off to the African continent and you're worrying about seat belts????? There's a lot more scary stuff waiting for you when you land........

 

That is absolutely true, for any vehicle insurer's point of view, not just aircraft. A death is a one of payment that's easily calculated. The costs for a seriously injured accident victim (say a spinal injury for instance) are both large and continuous, and generally don't disappear for the insurance co's books until the victim dies


Vaguely related to this subject, the film A Class Action is worth a watch That was based on a couple of true instances invovling the American auto industry in the '60s & '70s

 

I've seen several passengers and a trolly with accompanying dolly hit the roof during some severe and unexpected turbulence.

 

In a similar vein, why do they spend money making flotation devices out of the seats? If the plane crashes into the sea then you are probably going to die and dead bodies are pretty good at floating on their own without any help. Far more sensible to save the money on flotation devices and get a pilot that knows where the runway is?

 

How to reassure your passengers......

Talking of Africa my mate was flying into Kano (Northern Nigeria) and they seemed to spend ages circling above the airport.

But then a reassuring note came through from the Captain informing passengers that the last plane in had just crashed and they had to clear the runway before he could land......

 

Irish pilot on first approach to heathrow:

Pilot: Ok, Paddy, 5 miles out, landing checks please
Co-pilot: Hey skipper, that runway looks awful short!!
Pilot: I know, but look how fecking wide it is!!!!



ns04

 

Several airlines have lobbied to get them removed, as it would free more room for passengers to stow duty-frees that they bought on the plane. With crashes into the sea, you tend to die anyway.


M

 

classic

 

Nasa use passenger planes to train people for outerspace. They get to flying height then take a steep dive which cause's them to float about untill they have to pull up. Now if your are on a plane that has to do this a seatbelt will help.

 

Hello

If you have ever had the pleasure of being in a 'plane with severe turbulence you will be happy that you have your seemingly insignificant seat belt on:

The main problem seems to be encountering air pockets and the 'plane just drops or shifts sideways then the seatbelt keeps you from flying around. I have unfortunately witnessed someone hitting their head on the top of the 'plane and knocking themselves out. Not nice.

Steve

 

Its actually reccommended that you keep your seatbelt on throughout the entire flight. Technology has improved our abiliity to anticipate where bad turbulance might occur, but it's still an educated guess and turbulance has a habbit of catching pilots unawares! The nasty clear air turbulance can cause a plane to literally drop 100s of feet. If you were on your feet when that happened, you'd be on your *** with a very sore head after!!

The only predcatable thing about turbulance is that it will invariably strike just as dinner is served!!

 

That had me laughing for ages

 

"good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We will shortly be crashing into a mountain. Although we are travelling at 500 miles an hour, it will take approximately 10 mins. Please use this time to wander around the cabin and pick a good spot."

 

Loads of reasons really.

If the plane goes into sudden decent you will go weightless and float about and when the plane levels out and gravity catches up, you'll fall to the floor: Note the dog: YouTube - flying dog

Another good reason is if there is explosive decompression.....say your on an emergency exit aisle and the door blows out...you'll be sucked out with it. If anyone watches aircrash investigation: Aloha airlines flight 243 where an air stewardess was sucked out the of the plane and fell to her death....Or the captain of BA5390....who wasn't wearing his belt: He almost was sucked out, thankfully his legs got caught on the controls and he survived.


The final good reason: Kids: Stops the little f**kers running about everywhere. its bad enough with them kicking your seat back all the time

 

That is funny as ****!

 

It's annoying: I've been on several flights across Asia and the US full of Philippinoes, they were bad enough trying to take on huge suitcases and binbags as HAND LUGGAGE delaying the plane as it all had to go into the hold (why check-in didn't stop them I don't know ) and as soon as the plane touched the ground they were all up out the seats rummaging through the overhead bins.

Captain stopped the plane as soon as he came off the runway. And said he wasn't going anywhere until they all sat down and put thier belts back on.