Training for Skyrage
CRMDEEN_at_aol.com
Tue, 15 Sep 1998 07:55:23 EDT
I'd like to pitch an idea toward Neil Krey's question. What happened to
the cabin attendents in the Skyrage incidents, and the reports of how some
organizations seem to be more aware than others in "screening" potentially
troublesome passengers indicate there is some awareness and concern. The
solution is definately within the organizational culture. However, I think an
improvement in passenger training is possible.
First of all, an assault upon a cabin attendent, during the flight, may
not seem to interfere with the flight to some, and thereby dilute the legal
consequences. That the attendent is incapacitated to any degree, in my
opinion, interferes with his/her "potential" duty. Should the landing become
troublesome and an emergency evacuation be directed by the PIC, that cabin
attendent may not be able to perform with the skill the passengers need.
Given this, any passenger who witnesses an assault, either verbal or physical,
upon a crewmember, is putting themselves at risk. Even passengers in a cabin
have a responsibility toward the safe and efficient operation of that
aircraft.
I'm sure all within this forum occassionally travel as an airplane
passenger, and it probably muses us to observe the apathy demonstrated during
the "emergency drill briefing" by the cabin attendents. I can't tell you how
many times I've wanted to stand up and shout "Listen up" to the passengers who
are not paying attention. There seems to be a real educational opportunity
here.
Perhaps the emergency exit card could have pictures of an evacuation in
progress. Those pictures could show "good" and "bad" results. Perhaps a
video showing an evacuation going BAD would shock the people into taking this
event seriously.
If crewmembers seem to think "smoke and fire" stories make for good CRM
classroom study, perhaps a good "smoke and fire" video would get the
passengers to give the attendents the respect they deserve. I guess that
would fall under "shock therapy", wouldn't it?
Or would it be just a simple "attention getting" statement?
Greg Deen
Raytheon