# What do you do if you're a passenger on a plane and you see something wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512 "2024-06-29T22:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/41 "2024-07-01T20:54:47Z")
Yeah. My POV when passengering is pay 100% attention from the start of the takeoff until about 5 seconds after liftoff. And the same idea at the other end; from a couple hundred feet above the ground through exiting the runway. Other than that you’re along for the ride come what may and if the crew needs to alert you to a problem they’ll have plenty of time. So watch your vid in oblivious peace. With your seatbelt fastened. Unrelated to the above … @DrDeth makes a good point. Always pay attention to fellow passengers and if it feels or sounds wrong, say something pronto. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/42 "2024-07-02T01:21:00Z")
I would say that as a passenger you should probably report a few things if you notice them. Ideally they’ve been spotted and addressed by maintenance but sometimes things break and something Must Be Done. If your seatbelt is busted and won’t latch (or unlatch!) that’s a problem. You need a functional seat belt to keep you safe. You should be moved to another seat and that one marked as unusable until it’s fixed. Similarly if the seatback reclines, but doesn’t stay upright. That’s a Problem because seats are only creash tested in the upright position. If the seat is upright and doesn’t recline; that may be a nuisance or by design such as if reclining could impede an exit row. Uncomfortable, but it’s ok. If the tray table ahead of you has no latch and cannot be stowed; that’s a Problem and it needs to be secured stowed, removed, or your seat shouldn’t be used. It impinges on the tested crash test occupant movement envelope and that’s not cool. Lavatory faucets that won’t stop running and sinks overflowing. Overhead bins or other compartments that won’t latch, stuff like that. Report it to the flight attendant. Fire. Definitely report fire, no matter where you see it. Report if something gives you an electrical shock. Not static shock, but actual electricity. That’s definitely a Problem. Stuff like that, please do report it. Most other things have cockpit alerts and crew procedures to manage them. Some things being inoperable (like a seatback entertainment system or coffee maker) aren’t actually problems and there are entire procedures to allow dispatch with these things inoperable. Speed tape isn’t a concern. Fog from the air vents isn’t a problem (vapour != smoke; I was on a plane once in the Caribbean where someone was downright panicking over “fire” that was just condensation…I felt bad for them, but they are really very different phenomena!) Fun fact (which may worry nervous passengers more): the Master Minimum Equipment List for aircraft is public information. You can see all the stuff that can be broken and still allow for dispatch. [Here’s the link](https://wwwapps2.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/MEL-LEM/tcbbs/tcsup/B_737_8.pdf) to the pdf of the Transport Canada MMEL for the 737-8. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/43 "2024-07-02T01:24:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Some guy in the seat behind me is muttering “Allah Akbar” and has mentioned the word “bomb” or something- yep, I will go talk to a stewardess quite quickly Really? You’d go to a flight attendant because you heard another passenger praying? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/44 "2024-07-02T01:46:46Z")
The important part of that sentence is _and has mentioned the word “bomb” or something._ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/45 "2024-07-02T01:50:33Z")
So you would go to a flight attendant if a white dude was saying the Lord’s Prayer and you think you heard the word bomb somewhere in there? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/46 "2024-07-02T03:08:33Z")
I wasn’t the one who said I’d do anything. The situation @drdeth provided itself isn’t even likely (why would some speaking _Arabic_ say the word “bomb” in _English_ to begin with?) Someone praying and taking about bombs is an odd thing no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/47 "2024-07-02T10:45:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “Allah Akbar” After 9-11 my brother was postulating that phone conversations and texts were being monitored. I repeatedly texted “Allah Akbar” and similar things to him and he was seriously nervous. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/48 "2024-07-02T11:56:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My POV when passengering is pay 100% attention from the start of the takeoff until about 5 seconds after liftoff. And the same idea at the other end; from a couple hundred feet above the ground through exiting the runway. This, although I don’t tend to let my guard down until we’ve gained significant altitude (i.e. they retract flaps/slats). I keep a lot of slack in my seatbelt during cruise so I can wiggle around comfortably. But during takeoff and landing, I snug it up tight. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/49 "2024-07-02T12:29:51Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This, although I don’t tend to let my guard down until we’ve gained significant altitude (i.e. they retract flaps/slats). You do you. There’s certainly not much cost in that extra minute-ish of paying attention. Your book, vid, or game will still be there patiently awaiting your return. IMO / IME once they break ground they’re not going to set back down on that runway no matter what. Not time, space, nor procedures for doing so. So at that point you’re committed to a ride around the traffic pattern for a probably normal landing albeit for an abnormal reason, or else an off-airport landing (AKA crash and fire) real soon. In the former case you’ve got plenty of time, and PAs, to get your head back in the game for any post-landing excitement. In the latter case the incremental benefit of being fully keyed in is pretty small bordering on negligible. And it’s a decent bet the crowd will have figured out something is very wrong before the crunching noises start, so even if you weren’t paying attention before, you will be by the time it matters. _If_ it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/50 "2024-07-02T13:00:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You do you. There’s certainly not much cost in that extra minute-ish of paying attention. Your book, vid, or game will still be there patiently awaiting your return. > > IMO / IME once they break ground they’re not going to set back down on that runway no matter what. Not time, space, nor procedures for doing so. So at that point you’re committed to a ride around the traffic pattern for a probably normal landing albeit for an abnormal reason, or else an off-airport landing (AKA crash and fire) real soon. > > In the former case you’ve got plenty of time, and PAs, to get your head back in the game for any post-landing excitement. > > In the latter case the incremental benefit of being fully keyed in is pretty small bordering on negligible. And it’s a decent bet the crowd will have figured out something is very wrong before the crunching noises start, so even if you weren’t paying attention before, you will be by the time it matters. _If_ it matters. All valid points. In my case the prolonged vigilance may be less about deliberate safety-mindedness and more about involuntary wariness. Whenever something out of the ordinary happens my Spidey-sense tingles. Pilots who maneuver the plane as if they were chauffeurs trying to provide the smoothest ride possible are my heroes; the ones who routinely jerk the yoke and throttle around like they’re driving a hot lap at the Nürburgring make me very uneasy. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/51 "2024-07-02T14:03:12Z")
Ironically, I think the previous gen of automated pilots were worse for comfort than pilots. I think they’ve smoothed things since, but between 20 and 5 years ago, turning was very jerky and uncomfortably angled. I could tell it was a computer because once the plane jerked into its final angle, the turn was completely smooth. But the process of turning and coming out of a turn was too sudden for me, and the tightness of the turns tended to be slightly more than I felt comfortable with. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/52 "2024-07-02T15:03:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > After 9-11 my brother was postulating that phone conversations and texts were being monitored. I repeatedly texted “Allah Akbar” and similar things to him and he was seriously nervous. I used to like to say some form of “kill the president” on phone calls. As far as I know, I’ve never been investigated. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/53 "2024-07-02T20:10:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So you would go to a flight attendant if a white dude was saying the Lord’s Prayer and you think you heard the word bomb somewhere in there? Yep. If I heard _anyone_ mention the word bomb, I would mention it to a steward. Unless some how the context was clear to be unsuspicious.- like “that film was a bomb”. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/54 "2024-07-02T22:14:55Z")
Or one guy spots his old friend John on the plane and yells out “Hi, Jack!”. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/55 "2024-07-03T09:27:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yep. If I heard _anyone_ mention the word bomb, I would mention it to a steward. Unless some how the context was clear to be unsuspicious.- like “that film was a bomb”. Someone saying “this in-flight meal is the bomb!” would be cause for suspicion. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/56 "2024-07-03T12:16:31Z")
If my seatmate were muttering “Allah Akbar”, i would assume it was their first flight and they were nervous. And i would try to engage them in conversation and distract them. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What I’m wondering is whether any different, unique information is conveyed during the safety demonstration, particularly with regard to an Airbus versus a Boeing or an Embraer or a 737 versus a 787. They tell you to look at the safety card. And every plane seems to have different door mechanisms. I always read that card, even though i know someone else will be closer to it than i am. (I read it very carefully if I’m in the emergency exit seat.) I was once on a plane where an engine caught on fire. It was a 747, and it was pretty obvious, because there are two engines in each wing, and the other just had a little white smoke, while the damaged one had clouds of thick black smoke lit by sparks. I endorse this: > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Instead begin prepping to escape from the airplane after it, or its wreckage, stops moving. Where’s the exit, count the rows, how do I open it, etc. I was 12, and what i actually did was tell my father, who assured me it was fine and went back to reading his newspaper. But the pilot was obviously alerted through some mechanism other than anxious passengers, and shortly after my father assured me that there couldn’t be a problem because the pilot would have said something, the plane banked sharply and we made a u-turn. Then the pilot told us something vague about having a problem, and that we would make an emergency landing. We landed normally, but exited via the slides. It was daytime, it was easy to get to the exits, and as a twelve year old, i thought the actual slide part was fun. Now in my sixties, I’d want to rehearse in my mind a little how to jump onto that slide if anything like that happened again. Anyway, I’m actually about to leave for a flight right now. I fly frequently, and I’m not an anxious flier. But i always read that card, look for my closest exits fore and aft, and make sure my belt is snug during takeoff and landing. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/57 "2024-07-03T12:49:51Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Someone saying “this in-flight meal is the bomb!” would be cause for suspicion. “I ordered the chicken **À LA** king!” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/58 "2024-07-06T22:41:14Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “I ordered the chicken **À LA** king!” You sure you didn’t have the fish? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/59 "2024-07-07T18:22:24Z")
I should be fine, I had the salmon mousse. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512/60 "2024-07-07T19:49:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I noticed on a plane that there was something wrong with the left phalange. I made them let me off the plane. ISWYDT friend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-if-youre-a-passenger-on-a-plane-and-you-see-something-wrong/1003512.md?page=2)