Over the weekend, a Delta flight en route from White Plains, NY, to Atlanta was forced to make an emergency landing that had the plane’s wing dragging on the runway in a shower of sparks. Luckily, the whole thing ended safely for all on board — and it was caught on video.
If you’re at the office watching this, you might want to turn the volume down or off while you watch this, as the flight attendant’s chant of “Heads down! Stay down!” is a bit loud.
Video: Delta Flight 4951′s Emergency Landing at JFK [Gothamist]
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I think that pilot deserves a raise. =D
I think that flight attendant deserves a ball gag.
Why does the pilot deserve a raise? For doing his job?
Because he does his job well and probably gets paid less than the manager at McDonald’s. He’s a pilot for ASA (One of Delta’s regional carriers), and it’s a CRJ900 so I’d be shocked if he’s breaking 30k. Don’t be such a killjoy.
Those little regional jets that are owned by regional carriers scare the crap out of me.
Did you know that this is only the second mechanical failure of a Canadair Regional Jet? These regional jets have a significantly better safety record than most bigger jets, and there have been no mechanical related fatalities on them.
Jesus—if I’m gonna die in a plane crash – I don’t want the last things I hear to be some obnoxious shrew repeatedly screaming “heads down. stay down”. –that was ridiculous.
I’d rather that than to hear her say “Holly chit, we’re gonna die!”
How do you know this wasn’t a charter flight filled with patients from the Short Term Memory Loss Clinic.
+1
Agreed, at least make it “Heads down, thumbs up!” elementary school style.
APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
so annoying
I wish I knew what to do with my head during an emergency landing.
The passenger videotaping with the unauthorized electronic device activated is probably what caused the crash in the first place.
Uh, no. Using unauthorized electronic devices can interfere with the plane’s navigational systems, not with any others. Seems to me the pilot knew exactly where the runway was, so that obviously wasn’t the issue.
“May interfere” is debatable but better safe than sorry
It is not at all debatable. “May” includes events that are vastly improbable and/or unlikely. Otherwise, it would be “will” or “will not”.
They’re totally going to make him pay for that plane…
Using electronic devices while a takeoff or landing won’t do anything to the plane. The only reason why they don’t want you to use them is so they can have your attention if something goes wrong.
Wrong. It’s been proven that almost NO current electronic devices will interfere with modern planes. Certainly not enough to cause any kind of crash. The actual engines will not shut off and the physics that hold planes in the air won’t be violated by a cell phone.
The “heads down stay down” was a bit unnerving, but I doubt you would have even heard it while you were on the plane. Most people would just be freaking out anyhow and the fact that you woul be focused on living really would make this less annoying (I hope).
I would have been tempted, had I been there, to yell back “We know already, shut up!” … given my generally poor impulse control, I probably would have…
God forbid the woman had to be stern. I’m sure it’s quite easy to automatically force 60 people to listen to your instructions in a moment of terror when everyone’s thinking for themselves.
Yes, people bitch about FAs and all that, but could you really keep calm and direct the masses during something like this (or worse)? Human reaction is to be selfish and save yourself!
Considering the heads down policy will increase your chance of death. I believe mythbusters did this.
Actually they proved the head down position decreased the G’s taken.
I don’t know about Mythbusters, but Snopes has a page about this.
http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/brace.asp
I dunno – I think human reaction is to feel you have some control in the situation.
Actually, studies have shown that the human reaction to an emergency is foremost to help and worry about others. We get the idea of “every man for himself” antics from movies, but the human reaction is actually opposite in all but the most selfish of us…and perhaps psychopaths. Confusion can be an issue, for instance when there is a fire and everyone races for the exits and someone gets trampled, but this is not necessarily because they are focused on self-preservation over the life of the person on the floor, it is more likely that in the confusion they simply do not realize that the person is beneath them.
The reactions of people during the WTC disaster is a good example of this. The people of NYC are arguably the most self-focused people in the world, but it should not be surprising that when disaster strikes, that will all change.
Can you cite anything in what you are asserting? NYers arguably world’s most self centered? Reaction in fire is not self-preservation? Studies about human reactions in emergencies?
Screw your “studies”, I’ll take my cue from actual real-world history, thanks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_Grove_fire
The deaths weren’t due to confusion, but rather, due to panic.
Um. And the locked doors. And lack of exits that could swing outward. And the club being below ground. And the flammable interior causing thick black smoke. And the refrigerator leaking flammable gas. Many people were asphixiated, and not only from crushing due to the panic. You would think we had solved this problem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire
Shouting “Heads down! Stay down!” is much more efficient and effective than the flight attendant having to look up and shout “would the gentleman in seat 11C please put his head down?”
I think she deserves praise.
Agreed.
I would rather be annoyed for a few seconds then lose my head (literally) on the plane. She is doing what she was trained for. And as I said above, I bet that would be the least of my worries.
By constantly repeating (very loudly) the instructions she is establishing control of the situation, and the passengers will listen to her for further instructions. If she had simply made an announcement as they were preparing to land, as soon as someone heard a strange noise, they would have looked up, said something to their neighbor, and that would have spread throughout the cabin, leading to confusion. By repeating the message over and over again, people know what they should be doing, and if the message changes “Evacuate using the front and rear exits”, people will know that the message is from an authority figure and will obey.
Flight attendants train their entire career learning skills that they hope they will never need to use.
Isn’t it standard procedure for the flight attendants to yell this over and over? I remember hearing about the flight attendants doing so during Flight 1549′s landing on the Hudson River. Sully said later, “I made the brace for impact announcement in the cabin and immediately, through the hardened cockpit door, I heard the flight attendants begin shouting their commands in response to my command to brace. ‘Heads down. Stay down.’ I could hear them clearly. They were chanting it in unison over and over again to the passengers, to warn them and instruct them. And I felt very comforted by that. I knew immediately that they were on the same page. That if I could land the airplane, that they could get them out safely.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/08/60minutes/main4783580_page3.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
“Heads down! Stay down!” x 50
Uh, we heard you the first 49 times.
50 times if you’re lucky. She appears to have been yelling that BEFORE the video started.
yeah what an annoying biatch. Treating the entire cabin like little kids. STFU!!!
It might be a technique that causes your brain to concentrate on something else besides noises outside the plane, and helping to prevent people from panicking.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ4951/history/20100925/2135Z/KATL/KHPN
Looks like the flight was from ATL to white plains.
What I learned to survive a plane crash, I got from the movie Airplane.
Surely you can’t be serious.
Yes, I’m serious. And don’t call me Shirley.
I just wanted to tell you both good luck, we’re all counting on you.
What the heck was that??? A kid?
I would have had to shove something in that womans mouth. Yes, she was doing her job but they heard you the first 100 times.
So why isn’t the TSA charging Alessandro Albero for illegally using non-permitted electronics and not following crewmember instructions during landing.
Also the guy on Hudson River landing that knocked the flight attendant out of the way to open the rear door letting water in and putting people in additional risk.
You must be a lot of fun at parties.
To those watching on mute, “Oh wow” moment starts at 0.21 s point.
Being annoyed by someone constantly yelling “heads down” would be the least of my worry’s in that situation. The flight attendant was performing her duties and performing them well under some serious duress. While I’m sure most people are cooperative in a situation like this, there are always going to be a few dicks. Props to the pilot and the flight crew.
I think it would be a relief to be annoyed with someone in that situation. It would distract from the abject terror.
THUMBS UP SEVEN UP!