AIR TRANSPORT Safety briefings and airlines

Detracting from life-saving messages?

Providing clear and easily understandable safety information to passengers by operators is an essential part of flight safety. NICHOLAS J BUTCHER FRAeS of the RAeS Flight Operations Group (FOG) considers how recent policy by operators might have the potential to devalue the required safety message.

Left to right: Lego people feature in Turkish Airlines’ safety film; Air New Zealand’s imaginative Lord of the Rings-themed safety video grabbed attention in 2014; Singapore Airlines’ safety video from 2017 featured a tour of Singapore’s famous attractions to keep attention while Qantas offers history lessons – but does it detract from the message?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires operators of contracting states to provide safety information for passengers at varying stages of flight. These ICAO requirements are specified in ICAO Annex 6 – Operation of Aircraft – Paragraph 4.2.12 – Passengers.

This includes pre-flight, pre-landing and postlanding safety briefings, as well as instructions for passengers in the event of an emergency at any stage during flight, such as decompression, air turbulence or the need for a diversion and subsequent evacuation.

Such information is communicated to passengers by a crew ‘manual briefing’, by provision of an individual passenger safety card and by signs, placards and lighting systems. Many operators, especially those operating widebodied aircraft, also use videos for pre-flight briefings instead of a ‘manual briefing’.

Note: A ‘manual briefing’ is where cabin crew, or for small aircraft the flight crew, indicate the location of relevant safety equipment and demonstrate its use, as well as pointing out the location of emergency exits and advising passengers of other matters, such as cabin baggage and smoking restrictions.

It has been observed that the provision of safety information has not always been presented in a meaningful way or in a manner which is always easy to remember. This might explain why there have been accidents and incidents when passengers have ignored crew instructions despite having received a safety briefing shortly before an emergency that occurred during taxiing or take-off. For example, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend for passengers to take cabin baggage with them in an emergency evacuation, despite specific crew instructions not to do so.

However, this might beg the question as to how committed operators genuinely are in making an effective approach to the provision of safety information to passengers. 

Placards, signs and lighting systems

Placards, signs and lighting systems, including floor proximity lighting systems, are designed to aid passengers and crew in an emergency evacuation, and the latter especially at times when there might be reduced visibility due to darkness or smoke. Information contained in passenger safety cards and in safety briefings should be compatible with such systems.

An operator’s minimum equipment list (MEL) will specify any restrictions that should be complied with when any system or equipment is not serviceable.

Virgin Atlantic made a song and dance of their in-flight safety films; A British Airways series of safety briefings used comedy and celebrities to get its message across, Safety briefing or Top of the Pops? Korean Air used K-Pop band SuperM in its video in 2019; Qatar have used famous footballers, including Neymar to inform its passengers of in-flight safety procedures.

Video briefings

The first generation of videos for the pre-flight briefing of passengers were permitted by NAAs on the basis that, although it replaced the ‘manual briefing’ of passengers, it continued to closely follow what was seen by passengers in a ‘manual’ briefing and was filmed in a passenger cabin environment. The advantage of such videos was that they could demonstrate accurately such items as the brace position, the operation of emergency exits and evacuation slides, as well as floor proximity escape path lighting systems.

More recently, many operators have moved away from this principle and have produced pre-flight safety videos that have little or no relation to a passenger cabin environment or its facilities. Although much thought has gone into making such videos eye-catching and attractive, there is a potential danger that in some cases, important elements of the safety message can be missed or devalued.

The producers of some recent videos would seem to have been more interested in their artistic integrity by using various issues relating to the country of the operator, such as its geographical regions, social pleasures, heritage and fashion, rather than by concentrating on the essential safety message.

Others have used a historical take with scenes from years ago and previous aircraft types which have little contemporary relevance.

Some show the use of passenger seats and associated equipment, such as oxygen masks, but in scenarios which have little or no relation to a modern passenger cabin. Also, several current videos are generic and do not always relate to a specific aircraft type or variant to be operated. Frequently this is far removed from the original intent of the ‘manual briefing’.

So how has this developed from a ‘manual briefing’ on a specific aircraft type or variant within the relevant passenger cabin environment, to something that has little or no relation to the original intent of safety briefings? Perhaps the answer lies in the misguided influence of departments other than flight safety departments that should solely be responsible for such safety matters.

However, times change and people’s attitudes change with them and it might be that a new approach to the provision of safety information is needed. Perhaps passengers may have just got bored with the same old ‘manual briefing’ routine so using new dimensions, such as videos might be successful in getting passengers to pay attention, as long as the safety message is clearly understood and not lost in translation. A psychological study to determine the positives and the negatives of new methods for providing passenger safety information would be helpful here.

Currently, many NAAs are only required to ‘accept’ rather than ‘approve’ an operator’s content of the required passenger safety information, as well as the way it is delivered.

Passenger safety briefings required by ICAO are intended to protect passengers in the event of an emergency. The recent trend by some operators, and sometimes by individual cabin crew members, to downplay the safety message in passenger safety briefings is regrettable and not in the interests of promoting and preserving the safety of aircraft occupants.

Conclusions

1. It is imperative that the ICAO requirements are met as a minimum and are supplemented by information relevant to the specific type of aircraft or variant to be operated.
2. Although the use of humour might assist in gaining the attention of passengers, this should not dilute the safety message or detract from the authority of the crew.

Recommendations

1. Operators should not allow their crews to deviate from the established ‘manual briefing’, either in its content or in its verbal or facial presentation. The briefing should commence by stressing its importance to all passengers whose lives may well depend on it being complied with. An introduction by the aircraft commander might assist in this respect.
2. Whatever method is used to communicate safety information to passengers, it should be relevant and identifiable to the equipment and systems that a passenger might have to use in an emergency situation.
3. Video safety briefings should be specific to the aeroplane type and variant to be operated and they should reflect a passenger safety environment, as well as the equipment and systems that passengers might have to use in an emergency situation.
4. Where pre-flight safety video briefings are used, it is essential that the operator specifies procedures for the crew to use if an emergency occurs after take-off when they will need to instruct passengers as to the nature of the emergency and the actions that they will need to take. A repeat of the pre-flight safety video will probably not be sufficient or appropriate. Also, operators should have an established procedure for the cabin crew to conduct a ‘manual briefing’ in the case that the video briefing facility is unserviceable.
5. The production of all safety-related information provided to passengers should be the responsibility of Flight Operations and not the remit of any other departments.
6. Accident investigations should include a review of passenger briefings in respect of their content and delivery, as well as the information provided in the passenger safety card.
7. Aircraft and airport operators based or located in the United Kingdom should do all that they can to promote to passengers prior to flight the RAeS evacuation video mentioned above.
8. EASA and other agencies should consider the possibilities of initiating a study of passenger safety briefing and the manner in which it is presented in order to determine best practice. EASA in its 2009 CS 25 Study reviewed many cabin safety issues related to airworthiness issues. It might be timely for EASA to now consider cabin safety operational issues with a similar commitment. Collaboration between EASA, the FAA and ICAO might be a way forward in this respect.