Written By: Patrick Brown
Your home is safe and secure, your travel insurance is in hand, and you’re finally at the airport. You might wonder what on earth you can do to improve your safety while flying – isn’t it now all up to the pilot? – but there are indeed steps you can take.
One of the top tips from Airsafe.com is to pay attention to something flyers routinely ignore: the pre-flight safety briefing. You’ve seen it and tuned it out countless times, but ask yourself: would you really know what to do in the event of an emergency? Who gets the oxygen mask first: you or your child? (Answer: you.) If you do know how to inflate the PDF, do you do so immediately or upon exiting the aircraft? (Answer: upon exiting.)
Other tips from Airsafe.com (where you can also find a video primer on hard-landing positions):
- If you think there is an item that is too heavy in the overhead compartment above you, ask to have it moved, or try to change your seat.
- Keep your seatbelt on when seated; it keeps you far safer should you encounter turbulence.
- If it’s a long flight, get up and stretch your legs to lessen any chance of deep-vein thrombosis.
- Don’t drink too much alcohol; remember the cabin pressure is such that it will affect you more than it does at sea level.
- Keep your wits about you at all times and listen to any directions given by the flight crew.
Have a smooth flight and enjoy your destination.
