WHEN on a plane, you might have noticed that flight attendants have a different brace position to passengers – and there is a good reason behind it.
An air hostess has explained why they sit on their hands for take off and landing, but warned that passengers shouldn’t copy them.
Henny Joyce Lim is a flight attendant for Cebu Pacific airline, and regularly posts air crew secrets on TikTok.
In her most recent video, which accumulated over 33,500 views, she explained why cabin crew can been sitting on their hands while in their jump seats.
During take off and landing, flight attendants place their hands under their legs when seated in the jump seat of an aircraft.
Meanwhile, passengers are instructed to put their seats in an upright position and tow their tables away.
The reason for that lies behind an extremely important safety precaution.
Flight attendants sit on their hands with their knees and feet together, and back and head against the seat to minimise the impact in case of an emergency.
This position is known as “bracing position” and it prevents flight crew from sustaining serious injuries.
Henny said: “The aim is to keep the body in a rigid pose so that if there was any impact from an unplanned emergency the body is damaged less.
“This keeps body movement restricted so that there is less chance of injury if there was an impact.”
Flight attendants have to be prepared to assist passengers in case of an emergency, and are always on alert.
That is why they are in a bracing position during take off and landing.
In order to respond to crises, they also silently review the cabin, staying vigilant of emergency equipment location, door operation and any visual clues outside the aircraft.
Although following cabin crew’s example might be tempting as we look to them for comfort and safety, it is best not to copy their brace position.
Passengers only need to get into brace position when told so by the crew in case of emergencies.
Brace position for passengers includes leaning forward with your hands on your head instead of placing them under your thigh.
It can be explained by the fact that cabin crews’ seats differ a lot from passenger seats.
Flight attendants’ jump seats are a lot less comfortable and face the passengers to allow the crew to observe the plane and help the passengers quicker.
Rear-facing seats will have a different impact in a crash than forward-facing seats.
In turn, this means that bracing position has to be different depending on the positioning of the seat and the damage it can cause.
Passengers also need to cover their heads to protect them from falling hand luggage or flying debris.
So next time you’re on a flight, you know the reasons why you should follow the instructions provided by the crew.
Watch the video here
