Fasten Your Seatbelts…Redux

June 25, 2009
By
Fasten Seatbelt Sign
Image by ficusrock via Flickr

We’ve discussed this before, but a recent article in Gadling prompted us to revisit the issue of the Fasten Seatbelt sign.

Flight Attendants are not required to force passengers into seats when . They are required to make them aware of this. Passengers should be up to go to the bathroom when the Fasten Seatbelt sign is on only if it is an emergency.

Passengers should keep their seatbelts fastened when sitting. A plane could hit turbulence at any second, and one could be injured. Despite the fact Gadling’s resident pilot claims he has heard it, we have not on any flight of late. We mostly see it being ignored. It may be because it is something of a losing battle, although ignoring a direct request from a is against FAA rules.

We’d like to hear Flight Attendants weigh in on this specifically. We have a great deal of respect for flight attendants, and have said so before. We are going purely on observation.

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This entry was posted on June 25, 2009 at 12:13 PM and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

  • http://www.Theflyingpinto.com theflyingpinto

    Hi! Flight Attendant here: )

    You’re right, FAs are informers not enforcers, but as you said it is a federal offense not adhere to FAs instructions. Although, I have never seen a FA call the authorities over a passenger who “had” to use the lav…the rule is for your safety…and I understand emergencies but understand you’ve been informed and being up is at your own risk.

  • Chris

    It is against the law to not adhere to posted sign, illuminated signs, and placards.

    It is against the law to disregard cabin crew announcements. Likewise, it’s against the law to ignore a specific personal request of a crew member.

    It is against the law to interfere with the duties of the crew. Non-compliance of the seatbelt rules is considered interference.

    We are not expected or ordered by the FAA to physically force a person back into their seat.

    So a passenger who gets up when the seatbelt sign is on is breaking at least 3 Federal laws.

    We can issue a “Passenger Misconduct” notice which states you must cease and desist from the behavior you are exhibiting that is in violation of the law. If the passenger does not stop the behavior (i.e. unfastens his/her seat belt), then we will have government authorities meet the aircraft. The FAR 121 laws that were broken in flight will be presented to the authorities and a large fine and/or imprisonment follow.

    Obviously, we don’t do that even though we could. We generally reserve taking punitive action when the behavior is more threatening.

    Flight Attendants are placed in a very awkward situation: we are charged with the duty to enforce the law, but so many of our peers have simply given up the battle, that enforcement is spotty. So when you go to enforce the law, passengers think you’ve lost your mind (or that you are a jerk) because every flight they’ve ever been on, they were never asked by crew to take their seats.

    I often hear this when I tell a passenger they need to take their seat because the sign is on…..”What do you mean? I just have to go to the bathroom!”. They don’t understand this would be akin to speeding home in their car, getting pulled over by a cop and ticketed and their saying,”Officer, I’m only speeding because I need to go to the bathroom!”. It’s just not an excuse to break the law.

    Every year dozens of people are injured – some very seriously (i.e. paralysis, or severe head injury). In most of these cases the seatbelt sign was on.

    Ultimately, I think most people simply don’t respect authority, believe they are better judges of situations than the experts, or they are so cynical they think they are being unnecessarily manipulated.

    I hope this helps.

    Sincerely,
    Chris
    Flight Attendant
    Major Airline in the U.S.A
    Tucson, AZ

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