booklets and brochures

your passport to a safe trip abroad

dealing with problems

what to do in case of an aircraft emergency

Although the U.S. airline system is the safest in the world, crashes do occur. However, nearly all crashes have survivors. The tips below, courtesy of the FAA, can help ensure that you survive a crash (which causes 10 percent of airline deaths) and the resultant fire and smoke (which causes the other 90 percent). Do not depend upon others. You are your own safety officer. Survival favors the prepared.

getting dressed to go to the airport

• Dress casually (slacks, no tight fitting clothes, no skirts) in case you have to climb over obstacles to leave the plane.


• Wear natural fibers. Synthetic clothing, including nylons, burns right through the skin causing severe injury. If you are wearing nylons and have to slide down the emergency chute, the friction could melt the material into your skin.


• Wear bright colors. You can be seen better if you need emergency treatment outside the plane. If you collapse on the ground, you will not be run over by an emergency vehicle.


• Do no wear high-heeled shoes; they could puncture the exit chute.


• Do not wear pierced earrings. The safety vest inflates above the ears. The earrings could puncture the safety vest, losing 50 percent of buoyancy. If you are in cold water, the vest keeps your head above water, helping to retain your body heat. Losing the buoyancy of the vest dramatically increases the chance of body heat loss and death from hypothermia.


• Wear laced shoes and keep them on during take-off and landing. If preparing for a crash, put your shoes back on. In a crash, loafers may fly off from the G-forces. Avoid walking where there might be debris such as glass, razor-sharp metal shards, or fuel. Also avoid touching the cabin if there is a fire as the metal would be hot.


• Because the plane is set to a low humidity (between 4 and 15 percent) you dehydrate while in the air. Drink plenty of water or juice at home and before boarding the plane. While in-flight, drink fluids, even if you are not thirsty. Dehydration parches your throat and nasal passages, which will have a hard enough time from the smoke soot. A word of caution: alcohol speeds dehydration.
• Do not take any medication that may slow thinking and reaction time in an emergency (i.e., sedatives) unless prescribed by a physician. Regarding prescription medication, if you are traveling in different time zones, make sure you take your medication according to the number of hours between doses, not by the time on your watch. There is a good chance you could either overdose or under dose.