Some airlines use humor to get your attention during safety announcements. But Japan Airlines has taken a more serious approach. The savvy carrier is pointing out the bad things that can happen if you ignore their advice. Scare tactics? Not really. Well, maybe a little, but it’s informative, important and relevant. And it’s worth watching.
Leave your luggage behind during an aircraft evacuation. (Phoro courtesy of JAL website)
The Consequences of Lugging Luggage
For instance, JAL shows computer-generated passengers trapped in the aisles and unable to escape. Why? Because an inconsiderate passenger has insisted on gathering luggage from the overhead bin, putting lives of the people behind him at risk. It also can rip the evacuation slide.
And for those high-heeled divas who insist on wearing their Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik shoes during evacuation, the safety video shows the 3-D rendered passengers falling down the slide. Crash, boom!
What other potential inflight risks exist? The video shows examples of actual incidents that have taken place throughout the airline industry, such as injuries during extreme turbulence. Buckle that seatbelt so you don’t fly through the cabin if the ride gets bumpy. And safely stow your personal belongings under your seat so you aren’t smacked in the face with them if the ride gets bumpy.
The computer-generated characters show how to properly use oxygen masks if they drop down from above. (Photo courtesy of JAL website)
Basic Tips
Of course, the video includes regular tips on how to fasten your seat belt, brace for impact and locate exits. It reminds passengers not to smoking onboard and to put electronic devices on airplane mode. And no airline safety video would be complete without showing how to use drop-down oxygen masks and put on a life jacket.
Don’t forget to read the aircraft safety card that you’ll find in the seat pocket in front of you. (Photo courtesy of JAL website)
These are “realistic scenarios to describe situations that may occur if appropriate action is not taken by the passengers during a flight and in an emergency,” said JAL in its news release announcing the new video.
To produce the video, the carrier got advice from the company’s Safety Advisory Group chaired by Professor Kunio Yanagida. The group consists of five external experts with knowledge and experience in human factors, analysis of failure and imperfection, organizational operation and safety .
Check out the new video here.
[…] I can even begin to tell you how important it is to watch the safety demo on a plane. So much so that some airlines make some really entertaining videos in an attempt to get you to watch. Well, Deborah of Expat Adventures reported about a Japanese airline that’s doing it a different way – with scare tactics. […]
This is a VERY well done video. It portrays emergency procedures being done in a more realistic and useful manner than 99% of the other safety videos/demonstrations that you see. I truly wish that more airlines would do something like this.
I’m not so sure that these are exactly scare tactics as things that weren’t specifically covered in traditional safety videos. Nonetheless, they’re extremely important. People’s stuff is simply not worth my life.