I came across a discussion of seatbelt installation and use on school buses which got me thinking about our seatbelt use in other situations.
The only analog I could think of that compared to school buses would be commercial passenger airliners. I have never been on a flight where a fellow passenger refused to use his/her seatbelt. I have known of people (including myself) who have had to be “reminded” to put away devices or return the seat to its full upright position. But I cannot think of a time that another person refused to fasten his seatbelt for takeoff and landing.
In the great big world, I assume that there are some knuckleheads who make an issue of the seatbelt. Does this happen often? What does the flight attendant do? The flight attendant checks seatbelts usually long after the plane has left the gate, so putting the passenger off the flight is not likely. (Of course, ejecting a passenger before landing is even more problematic. :eek:)
So, how often does this happen and what do flight attendants do about it?
Disobeying a flight attendant (especially on an actual rule and not just a judgement call that they’re making) is a federal offense and you’d probably find a sheriff waiting you at the gate when you get off the plane.
Missed the edit window… if the plane hasn’t left the ground, and I thought they checked before takeoff, but it’s been a long time since I’ve flown, I think they’d just pull back into the terminal and drop you off. It also wouldn’t surprise me if they either attempted to bill you for that or, at least, wouldn’t allow you to fly with them again.
The only thing I’ve seen resembling not using a seat belt is when people go to the john when the seatbelt sign is lit but things are quiet. Which isn’t very close to what was asked.
In fact there is more use now, since there are reminders to keep it buckled even if the sign is off.
It isn’t 100% because I have accidentally left my seatbelt off during takeoff when I was distracted by my kids. Various stray clothing hid that fact but it was unintentional.
Interfering with a flight crew is a very real and broadly applicable federal offense that can include just about anything that they ask you to do. Flight attendants may not carry badges but they have more authority in some ways than police officers. They don’t have to read you your rights or explain why the plane is returning back to the terminal and why you are about to be in a world of financial and legal hurt for not listening to simple instructions. There are plenty of examples of blowhards running afoul of those laws and its enforcement is not theoretical. I was on a flight once in which a businessman got one final and extremely stern courtesy warning to put away his cell phone or he was going straight to jail. It is an amazingly tough choice for him but he eventually complied.
I’ve never noticed someone next to me not wearing a seat-belt. I think I’ve read incident reports by cabin crew about passengers not wearing their seat-belts but it was a small part of a general pattern of behaviour, e.g, passenger wouldn’t turn off phone, wouldn’t raise window blind, became aggressive, got up and tried to open the door, etc.
The biggest case of seat-belt misuse I see is passengers un-clicking their belts after landing before the belt sign is turned off.
The FAs make a pass through the cabin just before the entry door is closed, checking for properly stowed overhead & under-seat luggage and seat belt use. If we don’t have 100% compliance we don’t leave the gate. That’s the law. Said another way, you comply or you get left behind; you get to choose.
Once away from the gate their procedures call for friendly reminders, to acting like a school teacher dealing with a petulant 8 year-old, to slowly escalating to “do it or else in the name of the law.” Somebody who was a thorough jerk about belts as well as everything else would end up off the aircraft one way or another, but with jerkishness being the main offense. Which jerkishness is thoroughly illegal in our little aluminum tube-world.
Somebody who just pulled a Ghandi and politely refused to do belts but happily did everything else requested throughout the flight would be in that gray area where we ought to raise a fuss with the authorities on landing, but we’d get an eye-roll from the cops instead of enthusiastic support. Most likely that’d get company security involved and the passenger would find themselves *persona non grata *at our carrier for months, years, or life. Since the advent of the federal No Fly List that can have larger ramifications for the former customer than they might expect.
In 25 years I’ve never had an FA report a Ghandi in the back. Jerks, yes. And they deal with 20 mild attitude cases for every jerk they bother me about.
Reminds me of this situation: In the air (still in our initial climb), attendants were moving about, but the seat belt sign was still on.
I was pretty desperate and I asked the attendant if I could get up and use the bathroom. The attendant gave (I later realized) a very specific response: “I can’t give you permission to do that.”
The attendant didn’t say “you can’t do that”, just “I can’t give you permission…”
Something to remember for next time.
(Now if they had said, “return to your seat”, that would be something else.)
On Israel-bound flights, you have to stay seated and belted for the last 30 minutes. I imagine things would get unpleasant VERY quickly if you refused to comply.
So, seatbelt compliance is not a major issue on commercial aircraft. A person who is not compliant is likely causing other sorts of trouble. The consequences for non-compliance can be swift and severe.
So, how does that translate to children? Are children compliant when on aircraft? What are the consequences for a minor who is non-compliant? Does this consequence differ for accompanied versus unaccompanied children?
Here’s the thing: the vast majority of people seem to be in favor of installing seatbelts on school buses. However, this creates a supervision nightmare. Unless the student:adult ratio is 1:1, there is no way to ensure 100% compliance. Simply leaving the child behind is not an option.
Another problem is how to evacuate the children in the event of an emergency. How do airline personnel make sure that everyone is able to get off the aircraft? Some children are simply not able to operate the seatbelt. If the driver is unable to release them, they will perish in a fire or flood (as in the bus lands in water).
This is an entirely different case. Compliance is at 0% now, so if you install the seatbelts and some kids don’t use them…you’re still no worse off than without them. Lot of folks don’t use seatbelts in cars, either. That doesn’t make me any less safe when I do buckle mine. So it’s purely an education issue.
I’m one of the people who do follow the “recommendation” to stay belted even if the sign is off. Just because I’d rather not do impromptu astronaut training if we hit sudden turbulence. I’ve been on a flight that went into thrill ride mode unnanounced and it was not a fun adventure, but getting my head embedded into the upper compartment would have made it much worse.
Once I was on a plane where someone in the rear stood up to pick something out of the overhead while we were revving up at the end of the runway to take off. That FA did not need to use the PA to be heard loud and clear over takeoff power all the way in the back!
It’s usually right at arrival, i.e. the moment the plane stops at the gate and the pilot throttles the engines down/off, that there’s the massive unclicking of seat belts and rush to get open the overheads.
I look down my nose at airline passengers’ total lack of situational awareness. I leave my seat belt on whenever I’m seated. I’m not getting smashed into the ceiling. Hell, I’m nervous when I see those huge beverage carts creeping down the aisle, picturing them landing in my lap during bad turbulence. Is there actually anything to keep that from happening?
No cite, but I’ve read a statistic that the vast majority of in-flight injuries are caused by people who take their seatbelts off prematurely. I, too, have been on flights with unexpected turbulence where it felt like the bottom of the plane had just left my ass behind. Under no circumstances would I have wanted to be unbelted at that moment.
I like using a seat belt extension. I am just more comfortable. I hate rooting around around on the seat edges, and “Is this yours or mine?” I ask coming on and they always hand me one.
Only exception, once on a SW flight I asked and the attendant said ‘Later.’ Once we started taxiing I turned on my “call attendant” light. Same attendant said she needed it for her demo, would give it to me later. I reluctantly asked again later (I am really introvert) and she said ‘I SAID I’d get back to you.’ So anyway I flew Ft. Lauderdale to Denver without a seatbelt on. Made me nervous but nothing happened.
In the old days this was when I most often heard FAs telling people to sit back down. It didn’t happen my last few flights. I think people are so busy checking their phones that they don’t think to get up.
You like having an extension or you must have an extension? If you flew the leg with no seat belt then it sounds like you must have an extension in which case you should have told the flight attendants that. If it’s just a preference, then couldn’t you have used the normal seat belt for this one flight? If you must have an extension but you’d prefer not to admit it, well, I can understand that, but at some point you need to make your requirements known to those who are in charge of your safety, ie the cabin crew.
I’ve been a passenger on a flight when a cabin crew member quite forcefully commanded some super impatient types to “sit down!” when they got up to get their bags before the belt signs were turned off. While I appreciate what they were trying to do, it did come across as a bit unprofessional, but I’m not sure I have any ideas for how to do it better.
Long ago I realised that if I have checked baggage I’m going to be waiting for it somewhere, and I can either wait for it standing up at the carousel or I can spend some of that time sitting in my aeroplane seat, so there’s no rush to get up and out of the seat. If I have a connecting flight that I’m late for, the crew, if informed, will generally let you get up first so you can get away as quickly as possible.
Part of the problem is the airline procedures. In our company the passengers are not allowed up until all four engines are confirmed shut down, this takes time. Additionally on the last flight of each day the engines are required to be shutdown using the engine overspeed test buttons. This takes a bit longer than normal so the passengers have to just sit there patiently for a minute while we do what we have to do, and of course they have no idea about that, all they know is that we’ve stopped and they want to get out. Other companies seem to do things differently as the belt signs will go out quicker.
Phones and tablets probably have made a significant difference, lots of people are relatively happy checking emails, messages etc waiting to disembark.