Aircraft Window Blinds

window blinds are to be left open on all flights when takin off and landing it is so your eyes are adjusted to the same light as outside so if you had to get off in an emergency you are not blinded by the conditions outside, as for the seat belts they are checked by 4 cabincrew on the fr 800s and 3 on the 200s,

When you say that passengers weren’t told to fasten their seatbelts after fuelling was finished, I assume that the seatbelt signs were switched on at some point before push-back, and that a safety briefing (demo) was done. So in fact they would have been told twice!

The only requirement to advise whether seatbelts should be unfastened or fastened is the seatbelt signs. This is the Captains word, and is law. Failure to comply is actually a criminal offence. Any other instructions or checks are simply to encourage/enforce compliance.

Although not ideal, cabin crew missing the odd belt doesn’t suggest poor training to me, but does perhaps suggest being only human, and I am sure you will forgive us for that!

The current lapstrap seatbelts have been proven to be effective, and also have the advantage that you can get your head below the level of the seat back, allowing the seat to protect you from overhead lockers (and contents) should they become detached from the cabin roof.

The other advantage is that they are about as simple a seatbelt as you can have. EVERY time I check a cabin is secure for take off or landing at least 1 or 2 people have them fastened incorrectly, so I wouldn’t like to see a belt that is any more complex being fitted to passenger seats. It is also worth mentioning that if you slide forward on our seat during braking on the runway, then your belt was not fastened tightly enough.

“Thank you for your attention, and we wish you a pleasant flight.”

1L.

ha ha ha… nice sign off! LMAO!

Thanks for adding an F/A’s perspective to this discussion. Always fascinating to read

When you say that passengers weren’t told to fasten their seatbelts after fuelling was finished, I assume that the seatbelt signs were switched on at some point before push-back, and that a safety briefing (demo) was done. So in fact they would have been told twice!

The only requirement to advise whether seatbelts should be unfastened or fastened is the seatbelt signs. This is the Captains word, and is law. Failure to comply is actually a criminal offence. Any other instructions or checks are simply to encourage/enforce compliance.

Although not ideal, cabin crew missing the odd belt doesn’t suggest poor training to me, but does perhaps suggest being only human, and I am sure you will forgive us for that!

The current lapstrap seatbelts have been proven to be effective, and also have the advantage that you can get your head below the level of the seat back, allowing the seat to protect you from overhead lockers (and contents) should they become detached from the cabin roof.

The other advantage is that they are about as simple a seatbelt as you can have. EVERY time I check a cabin is secure for take off or landing at least 1 or 2 people have them fastened incorrectly, so I wouldn’t like to see a belt that is any more complex being fitted to passenger seats. It is also worth mentioning that if you slide forward on our seat during braking on the runway, then your belt was not fastened tightly enough.

“Thank you for your attention, and we wish you a pleasant flight.”

1L.

Just thought you’d all be interested to know that on both my EZY flights on the weekend, the window blinds were up for take off and landing and on my flight yesterday they specifically announced that blinds should be up for landing. I’ll post a full trip report as soon as I have chance (suppose I should work really!).

How do you get to sit backwards on a civil a/c (eg a southwest 737) unless you’re crew? All the seats on flights I’ve been on have facing forward.

For some reason the front row on our 737 was fitted backwards. There were 4 of us and we were facing each other- it almost felt like being on a train and the only thing missing was a table in the middle.

Funny airline, Southwest. Stewardesses wear jeans and trainers and if memory serves seats ain’t reserved- you grab any available seat you want.

Some (possibly all) of the SAAB340’s used by Business Air in the 90’s had 2 rear-facing seats in row 1. They also had an aisle facing seat on the back row!! 😮 By this, I mean a seat that looked up the aisle and not on to it from the side!!! 😀

Further to your comments, BigVince76, my RAF flights were on VC10s and Britannias with rear-facing seats.

How do you get to sit backwards on a civil a/c (eg a southwest 737) unless you’re crew? All the seats on flights I’ve been on have facing forward.

I felt like asking someone freom the crew once if we could swap places for the T/O or landing so I could see what it was like but I thought they would say no so I didn’t bother. Sounds like fun though…

As for the window blinds, I’ve always been told to keep them open all thourgh the flight (unless it was night of course) and especially for take off and landing. I asked a c/c memeber who confirmed it was so that in the event of an emergency and the a/c loss power resulting in having no lighting and having to be evacuated then they could see, and also so they could see if there were any problems with the engines or something they could report it to the pilots immedialy who would take appr. action.
I know that the flight still ended in disaster, but imagine if the crew on the BD 734 to BFS from LHR in 89 had the windows closed the crew wouldn’t have known that the engine was on fire (well, as fast). Although many people died on that flight it could have been worse perhaps and everyone could have died if the engine actually blew up in flight.

I heard somewhere that the c/c suddenly ordered the window blinds to be pulled down when an a/c was on the ground being loaded up for the flight with “cargo”. The cargo turned out to be a dead body which had rolled out of the coffin when the people loading the coffin onto the a/c had an accident. The crew must have noticed it and ordered the pax to close the windows.

I’ve flown backwards loads on Dash 8s, it is a bit weird at first during take off but after that there is really no difference. I also remember flying backwards on RAF flights but I was a kid so don’t remember the aircraft type, seemed normal at the time as these were the only flights we ever took

I’ve flown ‘backwards’ once, on a Southwest 737, and I had a fab time.

Take off in particular was very enjoyable, almost like being on a thrill ride- though it was probably just the novelty of it.

When I was in the RAF a million years ago, all the transport aircraft had rear-facing seats. That was OK for me, and I would actually prefer rear-facing seats on civil airlines too. However I read somewhere long ago that airlines discovered that most people want to face forwards.
In my own personal opinion, I would rather increase my survival chances than face forwards! On the other hand, I’ve always been the odd one out – at least I think so! Is there anyone else out there who would not mind facing backwards when flying (as a passenger of course!). A poll might be a good idea, but for starters let’s see what avid forum readers think.

actually there are no stupid questions or answers, just stupid people ….and you know what? You can’t fix stupid..

🙂 :rolleyes:

There is never stupid questions mate , only stupid answers 🙂 😉

actually there are no stupid questions or answers, just stupid people ….and you know what? You can’t fix stupid..

I don’t know how effective they are. I have read in a few books (can’t remember which ones off the top of my head) that cockpit crews feel that passengers would be safer with belts similar to theirs whereby you lock a shoulder strap in to the lap belt for take off and landing but can undo it once you’re airborne. I personally think this would be a great idea but it probably won’t happen for economic reasons. In my opinion, the lap belt would not be very effective in an emergency as very often when you land, the reverse thrust nearly pulls you out of your seat even with your belt on (I’ve noticed this more on the A32x than any other type of aircraft by the way).

On a more serios note, does anyone know if lap belts are effective? Most vehicle manufacturers don’t use them because they have no real benefit in the event of an accident. I often think that lap belts on a/c are only to provide psychological comfort to nervous passengers and ensure that passengers don’t move around the cabin during take off and landing.

OK, I just re-read the post about the seatbelts and you’re right! That is VERY bad not informing people to fasten their seatbelts. I wonder if they even got a safety demo on that flight?

Its one thing not noticing ONE passenger hasn’t fastened his seatbelt.

Its another not instructing pax to do so!

Possibly Bmused but if you look at Pablo’s experience above, it was on BA! I’m not an avid Ryanair supporter and I think Michael O’Leary is one of the most arrogant ba****** in the world. I do however feel that you should not criticise something which can (and does) happen on all airlines.

LMAO!

On a serious note…. for me thats another sign that Ryaniar are not the safest airline to fly

Good one Ren!