Passenger safety briefings – Are some operators missing the point by undermining the safety message?

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 considers how
recent policy by operators might have the potential to devalue the required safety message.

Background

Air New Zealand''s imaginative Lord of the Rings-themed safety video grabbed attention in 2014.
(ANZ/YouTube)

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 post-landing 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 wide-bodied aircraft, also use videos for pre-flight briefings instead of a ‘manual
briefing’.

Note: A ‘manual briefing’ is where cabin crew, or the for small aircraft the flight crew, indicate the
location of relevant safety equipment and demonstrate its use, as well 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 not 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 taxy 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.

The recent trend for operators to produce pre-flight safety briefing videos that have little or no
relevance to a passenger cabin environment is perhaps indicative of an excessive use of gimmicks
intended to capture passenger attention potentially at the expense of reinforcing the legally required
safety message. This might reflect the way that for some operator’s their commercial departments have
assumed responsibility for some safety issues which have historically been the remit of flight operations
departments.
Recently the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) produced a short video on the actions that passengers
should take in the event of an emergency evacuation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=j8VSQLNwONw

The CAA enthusiastically welcomed the release of the above RAeS evacuation video.

This document reviews the requirements, the various means of communication as well as some of the
potential negatives of providing safety information to passengers.

‘Manual Briefings’ by crew

British Airways series of safety briefings used comedy and celebrities to get its message across. (British
Airways)

Many operators, especially those with narrow-bodied aircraft fleets, require their cabin crew to conduct
a ‘manual’ briefing of passengers on board the aircraft type to be operated. Operators of aircraft with no
cabin crew require their flight crew to provide a briefing for passengers, either on board the aircraft type
to be operated, or in some case, such as very small aircraft, prior to embarkation.

A ‘manual briefing’ by the crew has certain advantages over ‘video’ briefings but can be subject to
individual cabin crew influencing the safety message by sometimes introducing humour that can have a
negative effect and is not in the control of the operator via their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Whilst some degree of humour might succeed in getting passenger attention, if carried too far it is likely
to dilute the essential safety instructions and might downgrade the importance and authority of the
cabin crew, possibly resulting in non-compliance by passengers of cabin crew instructions in an
emergency situation.

Briefing of passengers at self-help exits

Singapore Airlines'' safety video from 2017 featured a tour of Singapore''s famous attractions to keep
passengers attention. (Singapore Airlines)

Following the Boeing 737 accident at Manchester, UK in August 1985, the UK Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) required operators to specifically brief passengers seated adjacent to self-help emergency exits,
on the location and operation of such exits and to draw their attention to the associated operating
placards. Subsequently, many National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) have implemented a similar policy.
However, the extent and importance of such a briefing might be minimal depending on a number of
factors, such as how busy the crew are preparing the cabin for take-off. At worst, such briefings can be
perfunctory and have little real impact. It is also important that seats adjacent to self-help emergency
exits are occupied so that if these emergency exits need to be operated in an emergency this can be
achieved as quickly as possible. Passengers seated next to other emergency exits which are not the
primary responsibility for the cabin crew to operate should be treated in the same way.
Note: Self-help emergency exits include Type III and Type IV exits that are usually located in mid-cabin
areas and with no cabin crew members seated adjacent to them for taxy, take-off or landing.

Passenger safety cards

Safety cards need to be kept up to date. (CASA)

Passenger safety cards are intended to supplement the passenger safety briefing, and usually include
important additional information to that used in a ‘manual briefing’ or video briefing, such as the
operation of emergency exits and evacuation slides, the passenger brace position(s), floor proximity
lighting systems and restrictions on cabin baggage and smoking. It is essential that safety cards are
compatible with the information provided by briefings and with relevant placarding such as the
operation of emergency exits.

Placards, signs and lighting systems

Safety briefing or Top of the Pops? Korean Air used K-Pop band SuperM in its video in 2019. (Korean Air)

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.

Video briefings

History lessons from Qantas - but does it detract from the message? (Qantas)

The first generation of videos for the pre-flight briefing of passengers was 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 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

Social media video of an emergency evacuation of a Spirit Airlines A320 in Atlantic City only days ago
showed passengers still collecting baggage before exiting. (Danny Adivo/YouTube)

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

The Manchester Airtours disaster in 1985 led to many advances in modern air transport safety - but at
the price of 55 lives. (AAIB)

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 their 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.

Appendix 1
The Requirements of ICAO Annex 6 – Operation of Aircraft in Paragraph 4.2.12 – Passengers - mandates
the following:
4.2.12.1 An operator shall ensure that passengers are made familiar with the location and use of:
a) seat belts;
b) emergency exits;
c) life jackets, if the carriage of life jackets is prescribed;
d) oxygen dispensing equipment, if the provision of oxygen for the use of passengers is prescribed; and
e) other emergency equipment provided for individual use, including passenger emergency briefing
cards.
4.2.12.2 The operator shall inform passengers of the location and general manner of principal
emergency equipment carried for collective use.
4.2.12.3 In an emergency during flight, passengers shall be instructed in such emergency actions that
may be appropriate to the circumstances.
4.2.12 4 The operator shall ensure that, during take-off and landing and whenever considered necessary
by reason of turbulence or any emergency occurring during flight, all passengers on board an aeroplane
shall be secured in their seats by means of the seat belts or harnesses provided.
Some NAAs have additional briefing criteria such as information to passengers seated adjacent to self-
help emergency exits and information on the restrictions of cabin baggage in an emergency evacuation.