Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Galley Gossip: In-flight emergencies - what are the odds?
Standing at row 33 behind the beverage cart, I handed a passenger a Diet Coke with extra lime. That's when another passenger came racing up behind me and yelled, "There's a fire in the bathroom!"
A fire on the airplane is one of my biggest fears as a flight attendant. Only because I'm quite familiar with how quickly a fire can get out of control. Once, years ago, I lit an Aveda travel candle and placed it on a shelf in the bathroom of my crash pad. As luck would have it, the Aveda candle was housed in a silver tin that got so hot it melted the plastic shelf. The candle dropped into a wicker basket full of tissue. Within seconds the flames climbed the walls and jumped onto the fluffy toilet seat cover. To make a long story short, I frantically fought the fire and eventually was able to put it out. I was lucky that day.
A fire on the airplane is one of my biggest fears as a flight attendant. Only because I'm quite familiar with how quickly a fire can get out of control. Once, years ago, I lit an Aveda travel candle and placed it on a shelf in the bathroom of my crash pad. As luck would have it, the Aveda candle was housed in a silver tin that got so hot it melted the plastic shelf. The candle dropped into a wicker basket full of tissue. Within seconds the flames climbed the walls and jumped onto the fluffy toilet seat cover. To make a long story short, I frantically fought the fire and eventually was able to put it out. I was lucky that day.
I looked up the aisle at the lavatory the passenger was now pointing at, and though I couldn't see any smoke, I turned to my colleague and said, "Call the Captain. I'll be right back."
Did I happen to mention that FAA was on board scrutinizing our every move?
My heart raced as I walked up the aisle. I had barely cracked the accordion door open when I heard passengers coughing loudly throughout the cabin. Smoke began billowing out of the trash receptacle. A cigarette, I guessed.
"I can't breath!" I heard several passengers scream.
Quickly I shut the door, opened an overhead bin, grabbed a bottle of halon, pulled out the pin, and pushed the lavatory door back open. Pointing the hose at the fire, I pressed the lever and sprayed. I also prayed. Two seconds later a colleague handed me another bottle of halon. When that was empty, another tank was placed in my hands. The smoke grew thicker and thicker as the coughing got louder and louder. A giant hazmat-looking-hood that covers the entire head and provides oxygen while fighting fires was thrust upon me.
"I can't breath!" I heard several passengers scream.
Quickly I shut the door, opened an overhead bin, grabbed a bottle of halon, pulled out the pin, and pushed the lavatory door back open. Pointing the hose at the fire, I pressed the lever and sprayed. I also prayed. Two seconds later a colleague handed me another bottle of halon. When that was empty, another tank was placed in my hands. The smoke grew thicker and thicker as the coughing got louder and louder. A giant hazmat-looking-hood that covers the entire head and provides oxygen while fighting fires was thrust upon me.
While I continued fighting the fire, my colleagues moved passengers and oxygen bottles away from the lavatory. Because the flight was full, passengers were doubled up. Then my colleagues passed out wet towels and instructed passengers to use them to cover their mouths.
As soon as the fire was extinguished, the Captain's voice boomed, "Flight attendants, prepare for landing!"
Frantically we threw everything into the carts and locked it all in place. It was then we took our jumpseats and tried to catch our breath.
Frantically we threw everything into the carts and locked it all in place. It was then we took our jumpseats and tried to catch our breath.
"Very good!" our instructors called out.
The FAA guy didn't respond. He just sat there taking notes.
"Now grab your manuals and let's go over what just happened," an instructor said. And that's what we did. We all gr
abbed our in-flight crew manuals and discussed what had happened and what we could have done better.
abbed our in-flight crew manuals and discussed what had happened and what we could have done better.The above scenario took place in a controlled environment during my flight attendant recurrent training session. (Click the link to read what happened last year) It was also a re-enactment of what actually took place on a flight earlier this year. Each year flight attendants are required to go through hours of intensive hands on training, practicing everything from CPR to what we should do in case of a terrorist attack, and each year I leave the training facility feeling prepared for just about anything.
Whenever I write a post centering around customer service or flight safety, it never fails, there's always someone quick to point out how rare it is that an in-flight emergency will occur. And that's alway following by how bad customer service is today and how flight attendants should be replaced with vending machines - vending machines! I kid you not.
Besides having a very large woman pass out on top of me in the middle of the aisle, a man traveling from an international destination vomit all over my crew bag - and uniform blazer, a woman go unconscious not once, but twice, during a meal service, and wing flaps that wouldn't go up one occasion, or down on another, resulting in the aircraft being met by dozens of emergency vehicles on the ground while I sat in my jumpseat ready to pop a slide and command an evacuation at any moment, not much has happened during my fourteen years of flying. The one and only time I had a serious medical emergency (a woman had a heart attack) two of my crew members happened to be qualified nurses and in business class traveled a group of doctors on their way to a medical convention. Like I mentioned above, I've been really lucky.
So what are the odds that an in-flight emergency will occur on one of your flights? I don't know. What I do know is that I was surprised to meet several flight attendants at recurrent training this year who had, in fact, experienced several emergencies - each!
After fighting the fire, I found myself practicing CPR on the floor with a flight attendant I'd never met before. He was in charge of the AED, which meant he was the one delivering the electrical shock when advised. "Have you ever had to do this in real life?" I asked as I pulled off a pair of plastic gloves and placed a pocket mask in a box being passed around the room.
"Twice," he said as he got to his feet and helped me up.
"Twice?" I repeated. "Are you serious?" I could tell by the look on his face it had greatly affected him.
The next class involved going through a planned emergency. A planned emergency happens when flight attendants are alerted in flight by the cockpit that an emergency landing will take place. Flight attendants will then go through a planned emergency check list step by step until all tasks have been completed. Remember the miraculous Hudson River landing? That was a planned emergency landing.
As we sat on the mock airplane waiting for the instructors to announce the names of the "working crew" I sighed. The stress was getting to me. "Thank god I've never had to do this in real life," I mumbled to the guy sitting beside me.
"Oh I've had four planned emergencies and one unplanned emergency."
I just looked at him. Then I said, "No offense, but I hope I never have to fly with you!"
"Why?" he asked, still smiling. "I'm lucky!" That's when I realized he was lucky, very lucky indeed!
Then he added, "During one of the planned emergencies I worked with a flight attendant who had brought along his 8 year-old son. Can you imagine? What are the odds that the day you bring your child on a flight you're working is the day an engine catches on fire and you have to make an emergency landing?"
Just then an instructor called my seatmate's name to play the lead flight attendant during the planned emergency landing we were about to re-enact, along with eight other names. Mine wasn't one of them, thankfully. Even so, I shook my head as I sat in my seat, just like a real life passenger, and thought about the so-called odds and what it all meant. I mean what were the odds that the one guy in the room most qualified to handle a planned emergency landing would be called out to role-play the flight attendant in charge? What were the odds that my CPR partner would have had to actually perform it in flight on two seperate occassions? What are the odds of anything, really? And in the end, do the odds even matter?
Are you a flight attendant who has experienced an in-flight emergency? Share your story here!
Are you a flight attendant who has experienced an in-flight emergency? Share your story here!
Filed under: Airlines, Galley Gossip
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
frank96 Aug 20th 2009 11:09AM
My Friend, Annette, honored me in her blog about my emergency:
Friday, October 10, 2008
Flight Attendants train for so many emergency procedures--it's mind-boggling that most people think our entire job is to schlep drinks and pillows. Here's a short list of what my colleagues and I are trained to handle, and get qualified on annually:
Hazardous material: We have to know what wheelchair batteries can be boarded and which ones can't. We must be able to identify and handle and contain hazardous spills onboard. (And, hope it doesn't start to smoke or catch on fire!) Oh, and that Bacardi 151 rum too much alcohol! It is flammable and is a hazardous material and cannot be boarded on the airplane!
Fire: You do not want fire on your plane! Worldwide, Flight Attendants are trained on how to use the protective breathing equipment and fight a fire anywhere onboard the aircraft. On one of my flights to Frankfurt--over the ocean in the middle of the night, the pilots had an indication of a fire in the crew rest area, which is upstairs in the the tail of the 747 aircraft. Flight Attendants were pulling out the panels of the wall to find the source of the alarm. It turned out to be a bad indicator light, but having a fire with almost 400 souls onboard in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and no one fighting it, would be horrendous.
Decompressions: Airplanes are pressurized to reflect pressure at 8,000 feet. This is so we can breathe without supplemental oxygen at 37,000 feet. Structural damage or a malfunction of the pressurization system can cause the airplane to leak or explode and even out with the current altitude--which can cause hypoxia, hypothermia--and death, if not dealt with quickly--sometimes, it is a matter of seconds before people will lapse into unconsciousness. You may recall the golfer Payne Stewart and 5 others who died when the Learjet he was on lost cabin pressure. Decompressions are serious business.
Evacuations: Flight Attendants are trained to use commands to get you off the plane in the remote possibility there is a problem upon landing. Equipment malfunctions, smoke in the cabin and idiots are some reasons planes are evacuated. Oh, and Flight Attendants can operate those big ol' lifeboats, in case you need to evacuate in the water. Flight Attendants are also trained in simple and basic survival. Need to hunt down a bear and serve it up for dinner? Hand me the buck knife! Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration...
Got a bomb onboard? I can help! Flight Attendants know what to do and how to keep you the safest if that occurs. (If I tell ya anymore, I'll have to kill ya...) A hijacker? We've got a plan for that, too. Diabetic problems onboard? Nurse Nancy reporting for duty. Totally different from the supplemental oxygen as mentioned above, we can administer medical O2 and still another kind: therapeutic oxygen. Did your baby just stop breathing? We are experts with infant and child and adult CPR. Are you bleeding profusely? In my best Mighty Mouse voice, "Here I come to save the day!"
And, I tell you all this because my heart is heavy for my friend, whom I'll call John. John is a senior Flight Attendant for another major carrier. John was flying a trans-con (coast to coast) to San Francisco, when the call bell went off. He went to investigate. He said to me in an e-mail this week, "I'll never know how long that man was sitting there, not breathing." He continued with saying that he knew he needed to get the AED. "Ours is located in the aft, last overhead bin. That was like 25 rows away.....I FLEW down the aisle, and ripped open the bin, got the AED and as I was running, opened it up, tore off the pads and slapped them to my shirt.
When I got back up to the row, row 8. A nurse was performing CPR. I said, HERE! TAKE THE PADS! She placed them on and I observed the verbal commands on the AED. Shock (the patient) the AED said. I yelled, "Stand back!" The man's body jumped in the aisle.
John told me that he was advised by the AED to administer several more shocks to the passenger, who was blue from the chest up. He writes, " A few more minutes, I looked up and saw the "Lead" flight attendant watching. I yelled, "GET THIS PLANE ON THE GROUND!" He ran for the Interphone (to call the cockpit). A doctor used the Epi-pens in the Emergency Medical kits."
In all, John says they worked on the passenger for 45 minutes, administering CPR, shocking his heart, and mouth to mouth resuscitation. The plane diverted to a Midwest city, where paramedics boarded and the gentleman was taken off the aircraft.
John wrote, "We later learned inflight as we took off from *** on our way to SFO, that he had died.
I cried in the back galley. How sad, how horrible.
The man was from ***. Had a wedding ring on.
I cried myself to sleep on my layover in SFO.
Yesterday I received this in an e-mail from John:
"I'm stunned the AED did not work for this passenger. I pulled up the survivability of a heart attack and using the AED online today. Learned a lot. You must use it as quickly as possible, within FIVE MINUTES of the attack and for every minute that passes, you lose 10 PERCENT survivability rate. When AED's are used within two minutes, survival rates of 75% have been achieved; if they're used within three minutes, a 70% survival rate can be expected."
Remarkable that he is spending his down time trying to learn what he can about the use of AEDs. But, not so remarkable when you know John, because he's just a Flight Attendant who cares. Like most of us, really.
He finished up with, "WE TRAIN to deal with emergencies, but aren't educated to deal with the aftermath. All week, I've felt like it's been a death in my family. "
So, whether she is smiling or scowling, really sweet or a bitch, a dinosaur (senior mama) or a cutie 20-something, your Flight Attendant is fully qualified to handle all these emergencies, and maintains this qualification every year, by law.
Now....would you like something to drink?
steve326m Aug 20th 2009 3:27PM
Wow! I know you FA's do a lot but I'm impressed. Praise God for all of you. I'm deeply sorry you lost one. At least you tried your best to save him.
God Bless,
Steve & Myrlita
Bacolod City, PH
Mark Aug 20th 2009 1:37PM
Thanks for a very enlightening column. My respect for your profession continues to grow!
Anne Aug 20th 2009 4:18PM
Frank, I'm so sorry to hear about that experience. I can only imagine how hard that day must have been for you. :(
Besides a few minor medical emergencies (fainting, choking...) that all ended well, I've had one planned emergency. I had a flight once at my previous airline where the landing gear would not come down. This was on a prop plane where you can actually see the landing gear out your windows (under wing exits) so everyone was eerily aware of the situation. I was the only FA on board and prepared everyone for an emergency landing. At about 2,000ft our gear finally came down but the pilots weren't sure if it was locked in place so the passengers and I still braced for a hard landing. The gear did lock but a fire had started in the gear which started to spread up to the wing. Needless to say I evacuated that airplane. Everyone got out safely and the firetrucks meeting our aircraft had the fire out within a minute or two. I NEVER want to relive that again, but I am thankful everyday for the outcome!
frank96 Aug 21st 2009 12:44AM
Anne
Aug 20th 2009 4:18PM
Frank, I'm so sorry to hear about that experience. I can only imagine how hard that day must have been for you. :(
Besides a few minor medical emergencies (fainting, choking...) that all ended well, I've had one planned emergency.
=========================================================
Wow, a planned emergency and a successful evacuation. My Hats off to you! Anne. YOU make me proud. That too, is a life or death situation.
After the paramedics removed our passenger onto the jetway. I had two nurses who had helped me with the medical emergency. We had to refuel before continuing on to SFO. The nurses asked to leave the aircraft and stand on the jetway. I said, "No problem." They both embraced each other and began to cry. I stood there for a moment and watched these two woman try to handle the outcome we had to face. I went up to both of them and said, "Thank you, you were my hero today. After refueling, we took off and the Captain called me. I finally let myself grief for a man I didnt know. I wiped away tears and set up the beverage cart for a final service before landing in SFO.
The internet is a wonderful thing. I took down the passenger's name. Did a whitepages search online and located his address. I had to write his wife. No one, but me knew what happened that day and I wanted her to know. I wrote his wife. Explaining, he simply feel asleep.
Weeks later she replied:
Went for a long walk today.....cool and sunny day in the Big Apple. Cleared my head. Upon returning home, I had mail. There it was...........a reply from Sara. Sara is the wife of the passenger, who passed on my flight. I opened it and found a picture inside. It was a copy of their wedding photo. Beautiful people, beautiful smiles, I thought.
On the back of the photo copy, she wrote that she appreciated that I took the time to write her. Her mind was reeling with wonder on what happened that day on that flight. I let her know that wonderful medical professionals tried to save him. And, that his seat neighbor said, he simply fell asleep. I knew that was important for her to know.
She called him, her soulmate. And, that they would find each other again. In closing, she explained the photo and said, This is my love, my soulmate and me on our wedding day........May 24, 2008.
I was shocked to find out..................she was a newlywed.
They were only married, FIVE MONTHS.
Heather Poole Aug 21st 2009 12:49AM
Oh man Frank....I can't even imagine. (Now wiping away the tears) Thanks for sharing.
Traytable Aug 21st 2009 11:50AM
Wow Frank, that is full on! Thankfully, the passengers I've helped have always been ok. But i know several FAs who have lost passengers despite best efforts.
In first aid training they basically told us, get the AED on as soon as you can, even if it means the oxygen might be a bit delayed. B/c once you lose the heart completely, there's no hope.
It just saddens me when you're trying to help someone & getting equipment and other passengers are totally oblivious and either won't move or come up to you when you're doing CPR on someone. Either they don't care or they can't cope so choose to ignore it...?
As for emergencies, I've had a few. It's also interesting dealing with the aftermath on the ground after the FAs hand the pax over to the airport staff. I've had to help conduct a few 'debriefing' sessions with pax by the pilots in the airport.
Anne Aug 22nd 2009 4:30PM
Frank...beautiful story...that made me cry! My heart goes out to the young wife...what a blessing it was though, I'm sure, for her to get your letter. :)
frank96 Aug 22nd 2009 4:45PM
My heart goes out to the young wife...
==============================================
It was his second marriage. He was 55 years old. The Father of six children.
Alexa Aug 24th 2009 7:45PM
it never fails, there's always someone quick to point out how rare it is that an in-flight emergency will occur.
It may be rare, but they certainly do happen, and I appreciate the fact that you guys go through the training you do. I've never taken the flight crews for granted. ;-)
frank96 Aug 24th 2009 11:00PM
Alexa
Aug 24th 2009 7:45PM
it never fails, there's always someone quick to point out how rare it is that an in-flight emergency will occur. It may be rare, but they certainly do happen.
=====================================================
THANK YOU. Throughout the years, I've had conservations with passengers who on occasion ask, "Have you had any emergencies?" I've had several passengers experience seizures, had a woman have major vaginal bleeding in her seat, had someone come up to me asking for oxygen. His face was GREY.
Had someone faint while waiting for the bathroom. etc. All those situations are really common experiences alot of flight attendants have.
I had a passenger at my exit a few months after my medical emergency. He overheard my experience of losing a passenger and commented, "Ohhh, but really how hard is it to use the AED?" he said. I said, "I didnt say it was hard to use the AED, I said, it was hard to deal with the circumstances, the man died." With that I got out of my jumpseat and went to work. I have to tell you, God works in mysterious ways. I went back to the aft galley and introduced myself to the F/A I didnt know working the flight. After the service, I commented to him about the arrogance of that passenger. Explained the loss of my passenger and how I wrote a letter to his wife. The male flight attendant teared up and said, "Do you know who I am?" Confused, I said, "No, not really." The flight attendant explained to me that he was in a crash many years ago that involved passengers dying after the flight made it's final impact. He was able to save many lives. He was hospitalized for several weeks. He told me "I hope you know how important and powerful the letter I wrote to the passenger's wife was". He explained by saying, " I still get Xmas cards from all those passengers I saved, all those years ago". A man who was burned over 60 percent of his body writes me every year and says, "thank you for saving my life." After several months of dealing with my passenger's death, I flew with someone who helped me relate and understood what I went through. What a wonderful experience.
And, I have to say, Upon landing, I looked at that passenger who belittled my profession as I got into my jumpseat and said, "See that flight attendant?" HE'S a HERO". He saved lives in a crash. NOW, Do YOU understand my duties?"
He was speechless. I sat there in my brace position and smiled.
I felt vindicated.
T Aug 26th 2009 8:20PM
What is the difference between a planned emergency and an unplanned emergency?
Traytable Aug 27th 2009 12:34AM
A planned emergency is where there is time to make some kind of preparation for the events to come- whether that is a ditching, emergency landing or a full evacuation. For example, the plane experiences engine trouble, the pilots advise there is 15 minutes to landing, and the FAs have time to 'prep the cabin' (do a safety briefing, stow equipment, reassure pax etc)
Unplanned is where there is no warning for the crew- e.g. plane runs off the runway on landing, landing gear gives way, sudden engine fire on the stand- it pretty much means the crew are entirely unprepared & have no warning of what is about to happen, therefore they just go right into the emergency procedures. Planned is preferable because at least one can try prepare the passengers for what to expect and what to do.
I believe the Hudson was unplanned as the FAs literally had like 2 minutes notice, not nearly enough to prep the cabin for ditching, they had to do it as they went...
Planned would be, for example, the Qantas plane last year which lost the cabin pressure. They would have prepared the cabin for an emergency landing and potential evacuation if required.