Passenger Briefings are Stupid! Right?

[KennyFlys]

Once in a while, I encounter someone who thinks passenger briefings are "only for big airplanes." Some might think they are wasting their breath or look stupid doing so. I took this from Avweb this morning. It's proof the stupid passenger briefing for small airplanes is a very good idea.

It may only be required for "large and turbine aircraft" by FAR 91.517 but it certainly has application to all other aircraft. It should be applied whether it's a Super D, Skyhawk or Seneca. Your passenger's lives may depend on it.

[FONT=arial,helvetica,geneva]Mother Plucks Daughter From Submerged Plane[/FONT]

A relieved mother is crediting the thorough passenger briefing delivered by an experienced floatplane pilot with saving the lives of her family, including a five-year-old girl who was briefly trapped in the flipped aircraft. Beth Lamberson says the safety briefing by Joe Soleri, 67, who died in the Aug. 4 crash, not only enabled her and her husband to get out of the Cessna with their three-year-old, it gave her the knowledge she needed to dive to the aircraft and release the seatbelt latch that rescue workers couldn't unhook when they found the trapped child. "Joe took the time to review emergency evacuation procedures with us prior to takeoff, as every pilot should, and that is what saved the lives of the three of us in the rear seats," the Lamberson family said in a statement published by The Boston Channel. The family was on a sightseeing trip with Soleri when the Cessna floatplane they were in flipped on landing. Lamberson's husband Kyle, who was in the right seat in the cockpit, kicked the windshield out. Beth Lamberson used the emergency window exit. Lauren was taken to hospital but has recovered and will start kindergarten this week.

 

[EdFred]

"it gave her the knowledge she needed to dive to the aircraft and release the seatbelt latch that rescue workers couldn't unhook when they found the trapped child."

Something doesn't seem right there. The kid was underwater long enough that rescue workers were able to arrive on the scene, and THEN the mother dove under and unlatched the belt?

 

[KennyFlys]

"it gave her the knowledge she needed to dive to the aircraft and release the seatbelt latch that rescue workers couldn't unhook when they found the trapped child."

Something doesn't seem right there. The kid was underwater long enough that rescue workers were able to arrive on the scene, and THEN the mother dove under and unlatched the belt?

According to the NTSB preliminary, they were not regular rescue workers. But rather, just locals on the lake in boats; most likely with no knowledge how to extricate a trapped aircraft passenger.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ATL07LA110&rpt=p

The rescuer found the girl still strapped in her seat behind the pilot but could not release the seatbelt. He returned to the surface, and the mother took the goggles saying that she knew how to release the seatbelt and proceeded to go down and get her daughter.​

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