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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| How to Behave in a Plane Crash |
| 2009-01-20 |
| Amanda Ripley I just watched Bill O’Reilly “interview” one of the survivors of the US Airways crash on Fox. . . . Like most people, O’Reilly was absolutely convinced that there must have been panic and mayhem aboard the flight. He repeatedly questioned the survivor, a man who had barely dried off from a crash landing in the Hudson several hours before, about whether people were screaming and pushing on the plane. When the man explained that no, people had been generally calm and helpful, O’Reilly was amazed. He asked again and again why people had not become violent and hysterical, until the survivor agreed it was shocking indeed. The truth is, in almost every disaster I have studied, people treat each other with kindness and respect. Violence and panic are extremely rare. An instant camraderie springs up between strangers--on a sinking ship or a bombed-out subway car. That is the rule, not the exception. . . . Why don’t we turn into raving maniacs? Because it is in our interest to be nice to each other. Under threat, we need each other more than ever. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #7 Not really, when that Ethiopian Airline was made to crash by it's drunken muslim Hijackers, the Captain loudly warned the passengers NOT to inflate their life vest before exiting the airplane. However, the voice recorder sounded hundreds of "pops" as idiots still inflated their vest, got stuck on the ceiling as the broken plane sunk and drowned. I understand the crew wrung the neck of the muslim sand monkeys before exiting the cockpit... GOOD JOB, GUYS!!!  |
| Posted by: Ming the Merciless 2009-01-20 22:09 |
| #6 Agreed. It is more likely an exuberance of help will cause problems rather than panic. That crap about panic, at least for what I've seen, is mostly for the big screen and bad guy wet dreams. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-01-20 21:40 |
| #5 You are NOT "heartless." US domestic air travel has become a torturous national embarrasment. The ICE train from Kaiserslautern to Paris or other destinations is reasonably priced, roomy, clean, and comfortable. Europe has the right answer, they've had it for years and it's trains. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-01-20 20:25 |
| #4 O'R kept asking, because the reports are many that some people were jumping over seats to get out, others were grabbing carry on's and purses. One persons "pandimonium" is anothers "orderly evacuation. On my most recent flight, now that it costs $15 to check a bag, 70% are carrying everything they own on the flight. I was pinned to the window seat by 2 women, on a cross country flight who didn't take off full lenght wool coats. Each had a carry on bag they put under the seat, and a purse, no saddle bag filled with crap they kept on thier lap. I offered to help put all this "unsecured junk" in the overhead, while it was still open. "Oh no, I need my books" they replied. Mid flight, the middle one gets up to go to the bathroom, dumps the contents of her saddle bag on the floor, which is already cluttered with her carry on... Call me heartless, but in an critical situation I would have not "waited" for these two to gather their self induced clutter. There were cases of this on the US Air flight; However there was also a good number of "leader/passengers" who kept the crowd calm while the Flight Attendents performed their real task- passenger safety. |
| Posted by: Capsu 78 2009-01-20 19:58 |
| #3 Just fly on one of the models Obama designed and you won't have to worry about a crash. Duh! |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2009-01-20 14:36 |
| #2 How to behave in a plane crach? Pray to Obama. |
| Posted by: JFM 2009-01-20 13:38 |
| #1 Another reason. If you panic, you die. I wonder how many babies O'Reilly woulda stepped on to get outta that plane. Whatta douchebag. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-01-20 12:56 |