Safe Flying for Families
Safe Flying for Families
Airline flying is safe AND you can make it even safer by making educated choices when you fly.
Safe Flying for Families: Choose the Right Seat
The Boeing Website says, “While some people believe the safest spot is near the wings or toward the rear of the cabin, there’s no conclusive evidence to support either theory. One seat is as safe as another, especially if you stay buckled up.”
But the research says differently. In short, the back of the plane, behind the wings is the safest. Thank you, this and that, for the graphic you see here.
Here is another view...SAME INFORMATION.
Safe Flying for Families: Wear Your Seat Belt ALL the Time.
Improve your safety by wearing your seat belt ALL the time. Look at this crazy photo from passenger Alan Cross when Singapore flight SQ308 in June 2013 encountered turbulence during a meal. Keep that seatbelt ON!!
That includes kiddo! I know that some decide to save money by not buying a seat for baby and instead, hold them on a lap. Since everyone is entitled to their own opinion 😉 I’ll share mine.  Holding your baby on your lap for hours on an airplane is CRAZY talk!!!
Safe Flying for Families: Buy baby a seat.
People don’t like to buy a baby a seat on an airplane because it is expensive. Something about the fact that a baby is so small makes it seems crazy to spend an adult amount of money for a seat for the baby. But…I think that is money well spent
Reasons to buy the baby a seat on an airplane.Â
1) Have you tried to hold your baby on your lap….for hours??? Â ‘Nuff said
2) SAFETY – just like in a car, anything not tied down would be a projectile in an accident. See above photo and buckle that baby up!
Safe Flying for Families: Use a safety restraint system for baby and young children.
Bring the car seat on board (one less thing to check!) or if your baby is big enough buy this:
I’ve used the CAREs system for years and think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Your child is safe and still has the freedom to move, sleep, and play! It only weighs 1 pound and is easy to carry!
*****Sometimes flight attendants will fuss at you and say things like “That is not FAA approved and you are not allowed to use it”.
They are wrong and just to make life easy print this and hand it out if need be! I always carried the proof and had to show it to uninformed flight attendants several times. Do not be bullied by the uneducated. Be prepared with the statement in hand.
If you insist on having a lap baby – maybe the flight is quite short or you have multiple laps willing to hold the baby – consider one of these. Â Baby B’Air is a vest that attaches to the baby AND your seat belt.
** Be aware that this is FAA approved for IN-FLIGHT only. It is NOT approved for taxi, take-off, and landing.
BTW – anyone who sees me on a flight, please ask me to have a turn holding the baby! I love babies.
 Safe Flying for Families: Airplanes ARE safe.
How safe is flying? SUPER safe.
We have only a .oooo14% chance of dying each year on a commercial airplane flight. What the heck does that mean?
That means that you have a 1 in 7 MILLION chance of dying on a flight.
To put that into perspective, take a look at these stats:
You have a 1 in 1.9 million chance of dying from lightning
1 in 600 chance of dying from smoking
1 in 2 chance of dying from cardiovascular disease
I think we should be a lot more worried about heart health that flying, don’t you?
Safe Flying for Families: How is flying so safe?
1) Pilots are pros! Â They are well trained to make the flight as smooth as possible.
2) Airplanes can safely fly all the way to their destination on only ONE engine.
3) Planes have back- up systems so if something goes wrong there is another system ready to kick into gear!
4) Airplanes carry extra fuel – enough to go to their destination AND continue on to another airport for landing.
5) Airplanes can even be landed with ZERO visibility because they have special equipment. Think video games!
6) A single bird getting caught in the engine can NOT cause engine failure. All engines are tested!
7) Flights flying east are at odd number altitudes and flights flying west are at even number altitudes. So…..east get 9,000 and west would get 10,000 so flights are spaced at least 1,000 feet apart – no worries about collisions.
So, buckle up, relax and enjoy the flight!
Happy and safe travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
As a pilot, I’ve spent thousands of hours in the flight deck of an airliner, corporate business jets, turboprops and down to the small 2-seaters and I whole-heartedly agree…FLYING IS SAFE! I also agree with the seat belt rule. Always stay buckled up. We get forecasts of turbulence before we take off and we always get ride reports from other pilots ahead of us so that we can give our passengers and flight attendants as much heads up as possible but unexpected turbulence can happen anytime! AS A MOM I also agree…a separate seat for baby/toddler is worth it’s weight in gold for all the above reasons!
Thanks for your expert opinion, Kristi!
From what I understand, it’s about turbulence more than anything else: most flying injuries have to do with turbulence, when people aren’t buckled in and end up clunking their heads on the luggage compartments, etc. in turbulence. And the differences in the sections of the plane aren’t about turbulence but rather about the sorts of accidents that happen on the ground, e.g. overshooting the runway. Correct me if I’m wrong…
That makes perfect sense. I have a pilot friend and I’ll ask her to weigh in!
The next time I fly, I will have to remember to book a seat in the back and revisit this post to remind myself why planes are safe. I know they are, but it’s always good to hammer that into your head when your imagination starts going wild.
Good idea! Whatever it takes! Thanks for your comment.