By Matthew Stibbe and Charlotte Littley
You’re not just paying for service with a smile when it comes to airline cabin crew. It’s hard to remember this sometimes when they’re pouring your champagne but flight attendants are the most important safety feature on your plane. They undergo rigorous training to comply with the industry standards. The International Civil Aviation Organisation sets the standard globally and requires crew to annually demonstrate the ability to fight fires and perform CPR, along with other life-saving duties. During a crisis at 40,000ft, you’ll look to the cabin crew, so with this in mind, here’s a list of ten extreme examples of crew doing exactly what they are paid for.
The Ditching
Captain Chesley Sullenberger of US Airways flight 1549 has been, deservedly, praised for his zero-fatality ditching in the Hudson, but what about the cabin crew that got everyone out safely? Flight attendant Doreen Welsh had to battle flooding to get people in her section out. Thinking quickly Welsh instructed passengers to jump over seats to make their way to the forward of the aircraft. Doreen was so focused on saving her passengers that she failed to notice a large cut on her leg until she escaped herself. "The people most responsible for ensuring that those people got out were those three flight attendants," said Douglas Parker, the airline's chairman.
The Crash
During last year’s San Francisco crash landing, the flight attendants of the Asiana Boeing 777 flight showed extraordinary bravery and dedication. For example they ran through the burning aircraft with knives to cut passengers free from their seat belts. Similarly, cabin manager Lee Yoon-Hye freed fellow crewmembers who were trapped by incorrectly deployed slide/rafts, despite having a broken tailbone.
The Engine Fire
In 1968 a BOAC (merger predecessor of today’s British Airways) flight took off from Heathrow bound for Sydney. Shortly after departure, an engine caught fire and fell from the aircraft, beginning a two-and-a-half minute emergency descent and landing. Flight attendant Barbara Jane Harrison did not survive the flight and rescuers later found her besides an elderly disabled woman whom she was trying to rescue. For this Harrison was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest British gallantry award for civilians.
The Arsonist
A big part of being a flight attendant is reacting to your surroundings, but on Etihad flight 460, this took an unusual form when the plane diverted after an arsonist set off five lavatory fires on-board earlier this year. After investigation the flight resumed, but once again the smoke alarms rang, so the crew abandoned the service to instead personally guard each of the toilets and monitor passenger access. Some passengers showed outrage at this, while others recognised the crew’s dedication to putting safety first.
The Hijacking
Shortly into Qantas flight 1737, a passenger tried to enter the plane’s cockpit, with two wooden stakes, an aerosol can and a lighter. Seeing what was about to unfold, flight attendant Denise Hickson attempted to intercept the hijacker, who then stabbed her. Undeterred, purser Greg Khan followed suit and tried to take the man down. Despite being stabbed in the head twice, Khan continued to tackle the man until he restrained him.
The Human Shield
Pan Am crewmember Neerja Bhanot was shot to death shielding three children from the hijacker who had seized the 1986 flight to New York. Bhanot has been highly commended, including the Ashok Chakra, an Indian military decoration for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. Her life-saving acts included hiding passengers’ passports, preventing hijackers from singling out certain nationalities, and ensuring passengers evacuated from the door she opened, before she did.
The Negotiator
When Canjet flight 918 was hijacked in 2009, the bravery of flight attendants Santizo Arriola and Nicole Foren made them national heroes. Arriola convinced the hijackers to release all 159 passengers, keeping only the crew and a security contractor back as hostages. She also prevented the hijacker from incapacitating the remaining male hostages, persuading him that antacids were, in fact, sedatives. When the police came to storm the aircraft, Foren took the opportunity to seize the hijacker’s gun, which was being held to her head. It was an act of bravery that saved them all.
The Baby
Boeing 787 'Alfie' named after baby born on First Choice flight. (Photo credit: Mark Harkin via... [+]
Carol Miller, an attendant for First Choice, not only delivered a baby prematurely at 40,000ft, but also performed CPR on the infant to keep him alive. Thinking on her feet, Miller used a drinking straw to inflate baby Alfie’s lungs, then performed rescue breaths and heart massage for half an hour, saving his life. Thanks to Miller, baby Alfie is now a healthy child with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner named after him.
The ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Mentality
In a medical emergency, quite often the most important skill crew bring to the table is vigilance, as Carl Harrison discovered. Harrison fell ill during his flight home, when he started having body spasms and fever. Flight attendant Natalie Bond noticed that Harrison seemed unwell and despite his protests, administered oxygen to him for the remainder of the flight and arranged to have paramedics meet the aircraft on arrival. Harrison’s illness resulted in hospitalisation after his temperature spiked to over 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Bond’s decisions saved his life.
The Heart Attack
CPR training can save your life on a plane (Image credit: Rama - Own work. Licensed under Creative... [+]
Many airlines use services such as MedLink, to connect in-flight crew to doctors on the ground, and remote diagnostic equipment such as the Tempus IC, which is how Stephen Clarke's life was saved. Attendant Karen Cornelius was able to determine that Clarke was having a heart attack without a doctor in sight. Thanks to quick thinking, using these tools, Cornelius was able to treat Clarke and keep him out of cardiac arrest until the flight crew could deliver him safely on ground, where airport medical services rushed him to intensive care.
So remember, next time you’re sipping your pre-flight champagne or hassling your cabin crew for an unlikely upgrade, what those smiling faces are truly capable of.
