Lawyers. No one pays attention during the briefing, no one looks at the card
showing the exits and such. Most of the time, you can't understand them anyway (lousy speakers,
bad acoustics, noisy people). Maybe it reassures some people... who knows? We've all heard
the briefing... can you point to something in it that measurably increases my chance of survival?
I mean, hearing that the bag may not fully inflate, but oxygen is flowing is nice to know... but I'm
still traveling at the same speed the airplane is just before the airplane stops moving. Ouch.
And, if I remember correctly, they don't address what to do if you happen to be on fire, or
wandering around outside after the crash or how to signal for help, or....

The briefing falls into the "can't hurt, may help, and in court we can say we told 'em" category.


Interesting stats, but they don't answer the real question.... How long does a crash survivor have to
wait before help shows up? I'd be interested in both average and max time. I'm pretty sure its much,
much less than a day, probably on the order of a few hours.

But hey... let's say you've got a few hours to kill, waiting for the help to arrive. What could you
possibly have with you that's going to make a difference? Bodies, wreckage, anything from cuts to ... icky stuff.

I don't see anything on the PSK list that's going to help at all. A knife might be useful, but you
won't have one (thanks TSA!). A flashlight, maybe. Something tells me you aren't going to need
to start a fire, and if you do, well... there's probably lots of stuff still burning... pick something.

The average PSK won't help in the immediate aftermath of most crashes. And, in the unlikely
event that you do crash, are still alive, and help doesn't come for days, PM me after you
get back. I'll buy you a beer and admit I was wrong. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />