Horizon BBC2 Oct 3rd. Airline Safety.

Anyone see this programme? I’m sure there’s a perfectly simple answer to this question, but why don’t airliners have car type seatbelts with shoulder restraint?

The lap straps are there for two reasons. To stop you flying out of your seat during turbulance and to stop you sliding forward when the aircraft has an abnormal landing. What I mean by that is, in an abnormal landing you will be in the brace position with your head on your knees, arms above your head and legs “locked” against the floor. This is to stop your limbs flying forward and ,most importantly to stop whiplash injuries to your head and neck. Car type seat belts would prevent you adopting the brace position
Since the only type of crash you stand any chance of surviving is the abnormal landing type, i.e. the crew has some degree of control over it. The lap straps are satisfactory.
I did’nt watch the programe but I can guess the contents! Did smoke hoods get mentioned? Most passengers ignore the safety briefing anyway so to try to tell them how to put on a smoke hood would be a waste of time! Serious aircraft cabin fires are thankfully rare. In the air they are rarely survivable and on the ground the time spent messing aroung looking for a hood and figureing out how to put it on would be better spent on getting off the plane!

Rgds Cking

indeed , there was a woman a few rows behind me on a recent flight who forgot , although she had been asked to do it , when we hit JSI ( the runways only 3/4 mile long) The pilots slammed on the brakes and she went flying out of her seat.

Perhaps before answering that question we should bash out the answer to why so many people can’t even manage to do up the existing lap strap! You’d be amazed!