Might as well jump...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 28

Emergency landings are rare, but the recent incident at Heathrow – where 136 passengers had to get off a British Airways 777 that had crashed short of the runway – is a reminder that they do happen. The passengers escaped via the eight slides released at the plane’s exit doors. Time magazine offers a nice refresher on what to do if you have to get out of a plane in an emergency. Here are two of the tips:

Have a Plan: Don’t wait until a flight attendant is shrieking at you to “Get out!” to decide what you’re going to do. Aviation safety experts, even the most jaded ones, count the rows to their nearest exits whenever they sit down on a plane.

Jump: Another big problem — especially among women and older passengers — happens at the top of the slide. People hesitate or try to sit down before sliding. If everyone would jump instead, as flight attendants will scream at you to do, the evacuation could go 50% faster, Johnson says. Since a fire can burn through the fuselage on an airplane in 90 seconds, faster is much, much better.

Anybody have a story to share here? Thankfully, I don’t. Also, here’s a brief clip from a Boeing 777 evacuation test, showing how it’s done right…