Recent Qantas Incident...

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Rick93

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The recent incident, involving a Qantas aircraft that had a brake fire, confirms the information I received a number of years ago.

I have had an involvment in emergency services for a number of years now, and while I was participating in an 'evacuation exercise' in a 747, we were told about the hazards of 'going down the chute'.

Qantas have long warned those 'in the know', about what to wear when you travel by air.

It is well known by Qantas staff, that when a person goes down the escape chute, you slide down quite fast. People will have a natural tendency to use their hands to slow down near the end. If you are not wearing gloves.... you will sustain friction burns to your hands. If you do not wear long trousers, you will burn sections of your legs in the same way.

There have been a number of incidents of 'chute deployment' with various airlines around the world, where people have sustained bone fractures from the impact at the end of the slide down the chute. People have been cut on broken glass from 'duty free bottles of alcohol' that some passengers considered necessary to take with them! The bottles smash on the tarmac, and then other passengers fall onto the broken glass one after another.

My air travel advice:

* Wear long shirt / jacket and long trousers.
* Carry gloves of any type with you - to prevent hand burns.
* Remain alert - watch what other passengers are doing, eg. carrying duty free glass bottles, or displaying excessive anxiety. You could be pushed down the chute before you were prepared for it.

Of course, we all have to be more SECURITY aware these days as well!

Regards,
 
Nothing is more attractive to the media, than a story where people get hurt on jumbo jet - hence the huge media beat up. I would prefer a quick exit route (even if there is a chance of getting bruised or scratched), to being stuck on a (in this case - potentially) burning plane.
 
Gordon said:
My air travel advice:

* Wear long shirt / jacket and long trousers.
* Carry gloves of any type with you - to prevent hand burns.
* Remain alert - watch what other passengers are doing, eg. carrying duty free glass bottles, or displaying excessive anxiety. You could be pushed down the chute before you were prepared for it.

Of course, we all have to be more SECURITY aware these days as well!

Regards,

Good advice Gordon, repeat of my addendum posted on Flyertalk today:

Ensure that you wear natural fibres such as cotton, wool, and leather only. Synthetics BURN like you wouldn't believe. A leather coat or jacket, even a wool one, will afford you decent protection from fire for a minute or two, which could be all you need.

Decent footwear is essential - a pair of stout leather boots will protect your feet from broken glass, twisted metal, burning liquids on the ground, and whatever terrain you've been unfortunate enough to crash into. It's not just a matter of surviving the crash, you could be anywhere from a major aiport, to the middle of the desert, to rocky terrain when you get out of the wreck.

Naturally, carry the real essentials in your pockets (not so easy since the knife ban nonsense), most good gear available here:

http://www.savvysurvivor.com/

I cringe when I see women wearing synthetic hose on planes, they're toast if it ever gets too hot - FAs included. You'd think they would be forbidden as an OHS issue - can you imagine legs covered in nylon going down a slide? Urk!

Amen to the gloves recommendation - thin leather will just do the trick, ideally kevlar gloves that are the gear for fast-roping, they stop the heat getting through to your hands as effectively as asbestos, without the obvious disadvantages of that particular material.
 
... and more importantly, pay attention to the in-flight safety videos/demonstration. No matter how many times you've "seen" it before (i.e. ignored it, 'cause you saw it once 10 years ago), at least give the Flight Attendants the courtesy that you are appearing to listen to them.

How many people on QF6 were hurt because they failed to follow the instructions (leave all hand-luggage, take off high-heeled shoes)?
 
On the money, SBN. I wonder whether the elderly Philipino lady who has wheelchair assist really understood that if she hesitated on the top step, that the FA's had to push her onto the slide to ensure the safety of all the other paxs behind her!! The plane was smoking, for God sake!

I applaud the FA's actions and agree that if any of this goes to Court, I hope that somebody caught it all on video to prove that all those paxs who didn't follow instructions and increased the risk factors to everybody on board.
 
Hear, hear!
Absolutely....people often complain when someone has saved their life!
How many cases has there been, when the accident survivor sues the rescurer for pulling them out of the burning car? "I'm now confined to a wheelchair.... so who's going to pay me?"

Safe travelling.....
 
Nothing is more attractive to the media, than a story where people get hurt on jumbo jet - hence the huge media beat up. I would prefer a quick exit route (even if there is a chance of getting bruised or scratched), to being stuck on a (in this case - potentially) burning plane.

Great theme guys however let's be careful not to end up running with the same type of hysteria as the media beat ups :!:

The odds of being in this type of situation are incredibly low so I believe it is important to keep things in the correct perspective. I go along with what ever each individual feels comfortable doing BUT I'm just suggesting that it's very easy to over react and start sounding just like the press / media.
 
Did you know there were people walking out the door via the bridge when they pulled the chutes. No wonder people had their gear when they went out on the chutes as they were already prepared to go out the door. That's why the slides failed when that carried gear cut the slides and caused injury to others when they tried to slide down.
 
Did you know there were people walking out the door via the bridge when they pulled the chutes. No wonder people had their gear when they went out on the chutes as they were already prepared to go out the door. That's why the slides failed when that carried gear cut the slides and caused injury to others when they tried to slide down.

Thanks redrat.

Another good example of the media not letting the facts get in the way of a good story :!:

It would be nice if ALL the relevant facts made the news and not just those that make for a good story in the eyes of an editor :!:
 
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