Flight Attendant Training and Performance during Emergency Situations

It is well known that the routine safety duties performed by flight attendants, such as ensuring that seat belts are fastened, tray tables and seatbacks are upright for takeoff and landing, carry-on baggage is properly stowed, galleys are secured, exits and evacuation slides are armed, and predeparture safety briefings are conducted, increase passenger protection. It may not be so well known, however, that the performance of flight attendants in emergencies can profoundly affect the survival and injury rates of passengers.

While airline accidents are rare. there are nonetheless a number of emergency situations that passengers may face in flight, such as cabin decompression, hijacking, in-flight illness and injury, in-flight smoke and fire, and severe turbulence.

In some emergencies, passengers and crewmembers have sufficient time to prepare themselves for the situation. However, more often than not, an emergency occurs with little or no warning, and it may take place in combination with other abnormal situations. For example, an encounter with severe turbulance may cause injuries to crew and passengers; and a bomb threat, a machanical failure, or an in-flight fire can result in an immediate evacuation upon landing. In these cases, flight attendants usually provide the most immediate assistance to passengers.

Reflecting the importance of these safety duties, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires flight attendants to be aboard passenger-carrying airplanes with more than nine seats that operate under the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) found at 14 Code Of Federal Regulations CFR 121. Air carriers must have FAA-approved training programs that provide specific programmed hours for selected subjects, and flight attendants must maintain their proficiency and attend recurrents training each year. The purpose of emergency procedures training is to ensure that flight attendants have the knowledge , skills and ability to react properly during emergency situations. The Safety Board strongly believes that the ability of flight attendants to perform their duties successfully during emergency situations is directly related to the quality of their emergency training. The safety Board further believes that it is incumbent upon each flight attendant to recognize the importances of active participation in all aspects of emergency training.

The regulations state that a flight attendant who completes and approved training program is "adequately trained to perform his assigned duties." (14CFR 121.405(c)) Accident investigations have identified flight attendant actions that were unacceptable and/or contrary to their training. This special investigation of Part 121 flight attendant training reviews accidents and Safety Board recommendations and regulations that address flight attendant training. It also examines the initial and recurrent training programs and programmed hours of 12 air carriers.

In several recent accident investigations, the Safety Board found that although flight attendants provided valuable assistance to passengers during emergency situations, they did not always follow their air carrier's approved emergency procedures of perform their duties in accordance with training. In 2 of the 24 evacuation cases cited in this report, the actions of some flight attendants contributed to and increase in the number of passenger injuries. In some of the other cases, flight attendant actions came very close to increasing the number of injuries. The safety Board is concerned that these same actions in other situations could have disastrous results and that flight attendant training may not adequately prepare flight attendants for actions that the may be required to take.

As a result of this special investigation, the Safety Board makes 13 safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration that are intended to improve flight attendant training and performance during emergency situations.