Fasten Your Seatbelts...Redux

: 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.

Get Flight Wisdom by email Practical answers on air travel, delays, cancellations, refunds, baggage and more

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 flight attendant 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.