A Lifesaver Under Your Seat

During my life I have done a heck of a lot of travelling by air and I must admit that just before take-off when the air hostess is preening and doing her thing explaining to everybody what to do with the life saving equipment, I never take notice.

I know its airline policy that the hostess must explain the use of your equipment under your seat and to point out to you the various emergency exits, but gimme a break, half the time they don't do it right.

They point to the emergency exits, which when you have a lot of 'I don't wanna die' passengers scrambling over each other viciously to get out, are really of no use. But, it's the hostesses job and as they flash their perfectly manicure claws in the directions nonchalantly, you get a fair idea that in fact she is pointing to the loo.

But it's the life vest thing that really gets me. You have to slip it over there and pull this, blow into that and then pull this if we crash into the water. What if we crash headlong into a mountain?. Do we still have to pull the cord to inflate the vest!.

I would like to know how often the airlines inspect this safety equipment to ensure it is still viably useful. Can you imagine putting on your life vest and then pulling the cord to only have that bloody whistle go off!.

Anyway, Batavia Air are excellent on keeping their cabin staff up on training as I found in this JP article.

Cabin crew given life vest lecture
Adianto P. Simamora

"Your life vest is located under your seat. To put the vest on, slip it over your head" the standard safety lecture begins.

Some passengers roll their eyes when the flight attendant goes through the life vest drill.

Others do not completely ignore the instructions. They promptly locate their life vest then stuff it in their bag to take home as a souvenir said Batavia Air flight attendant Ratna

"It sounds simple. In fact it requires a special technique. We go through it carefully with passengers but many of them ignore us" the 24 year old who has been working for the airline for two years told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of wet drill training Friday.

The training attended by 20 Batavia Air cabin crew was held in the swimming pool of the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The flight attendants were taught how to inflate a life vest while jumping and how to use the life raft including lifting passengers into it. It is important for a passenger not to inflate their life vest before exiting the aircraft because its bulkiness can prevent them from getting out.

However during the training session some of the younger attendants struggled to inflate their life vests while jumping into the swimming pool. Jerking the tabs on the side is not as easy as it sounds.

Many people have expressed concerns over flight safety amid fierce competition since the liberalization of the country's airline industry several years ago.

Some observers fear that budget carriers which often lease older planes for their fleets might sacrifice flight safety and aircraft maintenance in order to keep their operational costs down.

Cahya, a Batavia Air safety instructor and senior flight attendant said the company provided regular training for all cabin crew.

"We remind cabin crew they must control their emotions. It is essential they stay calm so they can guide passengers to use the safety equipment and jump through the exits" she said.

Batavia Air employs 14 pilots and 250 flight attendants.