WEBVTT - Should Airplanes Have Shoulder Seat Belts?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog obam here. When the fastened seatbelt sign flashes

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<v Speaker 1>on in airplanes, with its accompanying provenly gentle ding, it's

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<v Speaker 1>often met with equal parts annoyance and resignation, like, what again,

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<v Speaker 1>really do I have to The answer, of course, is yes,

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<v Speaker 1>you really have to. It's for the good of your

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<v Speaker 1>skull and that's where you keep your brain. We spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with Richard mcspaden, the executive director of the Aircraft Owners

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<v Speaker 1>and Pilots Association's Air Safety Institute. He said, I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's the old it's not going to happen to me syndrome.

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<v Speaker 1>Aviation accidents are so rare that people say, what are

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<v Speaker 1>the odds that's going to happen to me? And I

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<v Speaker 1>would agree with them that the odds are extremely low,

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<v Speaker 1>But he continued, I would then add that even though

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<v Speaker 1>the odds are low, the consequences of something happening can

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<v Speaker 1>be pretty significant. Even if it's just a bump in turbulence.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're not strapped in right, your head could hit

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<v Speaker 1>the top of that airplane. That can result in a

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<v Speaker 1>serious injury. And it's so effortless to drop a seatbelt

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<v Speaker 1>around you, and he's right. Though folks of above average

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<v Speaker 1>size may argue with the effortlessness of those seat belts,

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<v Speaker 1>but airplane companies are working on that, and in flight

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<v Speaker 1>turbulence is more than a mere nuisance. The Federal Aviation Administration,

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<v Speaker 1>or f a A, reports that fifty eight people are

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<v Speaker 1>injured by turbulence on airplanes every year while not wearing

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<v Speaker 1>their seatbelts. Most are not ticket holding passengers. Of the

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred and ninety eight serious injuries from turbulence that

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<v Speaker 1>the f a A recorded from eight hundred and eighty

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<v Speaker 1>four involved flight attendants. A simple lap belt or even

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<v Speaker 1>other restraints like shoulder harnesses, may not be enough to

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<v Speaker 1>save a life if an airliner undergoes a catastrophic midair failure,

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<v Speaker 1>but the rare accidents like that are not the main

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<v Speaker 1>reasons for seat belts on airplanes. They're designed to protect

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<v Speaker 1>you from the airplane during flight. Oatherpool and American Airlines

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<v Speaker 1>flight attendant and author put it this way to the Telegraph.

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<v Speaker 1>In the reason you must wear a seat belt, flight

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<v Speaker 1>crew include it is because you don't want the plane

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<v Speaker 1>coming down on you. People think they're lifted up in

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<v Speaker 1>the air during turbulence. But the truth is the plane drops,

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<v Speaker 1>it comes down hard, and it comes down fast, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's how passengers get injured by getting hit on the

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<v Speaker 1>head by an airplane. It's simple physics, Newton's first law

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<v Speaker 1>of motion. A body at rest will remain at rest

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<v Speaker 1>unless an outside force acts on it. But let's unpack that.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're not wearing a seat belt on an airplane

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<v Speaker 1>that drops suddenly, which often happens with turbulence, you're the

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<v Speaker 1>one at rest. You'll stay at rest as the plane

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<v Speaker 1>very literally drops out from under you. If you're strapped in,

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<v Speaker 1>the seatbelt serves as an outside force acting on you,

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<v Speaker 1>taking you with the plane as it drops, and saving

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<v Speaker 1>you from bonking your head on that overhead been above you.

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<v Speaker 1>Mc batten said. It allows you to stay in place

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<v Speaker 1>and ride along with the airplane. It's just that added

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<v Speaker 1>safety margin that if something unexpected happens, you're still going

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<v Speaker 1>to stay with the airplane. But if that's the case,

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<v Speaker 1>would shoulder harnesses be better? A little reasoning might suggest

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<v Speaker 1>that if a lap belt is good while flying, a

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder harness like those in cars and those in smaller

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<v Speaker 1>so called general aviation planes would be even better. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder belts or harnesses might help, according to some experts.

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<v Speaker 1>Mcpadden said the answer would be yes. It certainly would

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<v Speaker 1>help because it would prevent the movement of the upper

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<v Speaker 1>torso aggressively in terms of some kind of sudden impact.

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<v Speaker 1>How you can do that is another question. Entirely, such

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<v Speaker 1>harnesses would be costly to install and trickier to get

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<v Speaker 1>to work correctly on bigger commercial planes that probably be

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<v Speaker 1>uncomfortable on longer flights, And because of all of that,

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<v Speaker 1>wearing shoulder harnesses might meet a lot of resistance from

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<v Speaker 1>the flying public. In large commercial airlines, lap belts do

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<v Speaker 1>the trick against the vertical forces typically experienced in a

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<v Speaker 1>malfunction or crash. In smaller aircraft, though, shoulder harnesses work

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<v Speaker 1>and work well, which is why they are required for

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<v Speaker 1>all seats in all small airplanes manufactured since December twelve.

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<v Speaker 1>Used with lap belts, shoulder harnesses in smaller planes have

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<v Speaker 1>been shown to reduce serious injuries from accidents by percent

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<v Speaker 1>in fatalities by twenty according to the f a A. Ironically,

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<v Speaker 1>the safety record of commercial airlines may be the overwhelming

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<v Speaker 1>reason that shoulder harnesses have not been required of large

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<v Speaker 1>passenger planes. In seventeen, no one was killed in a

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<v Speaker 1>commercial jet airliner incident anywhere in the world, making it

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<v Speaker 1>the safest year ever for big passenger planes. In its

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<v Speaker 1>civil Aviation Safety Review for twenty seventeen, which examined accidents

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<v Speaker 1>on large passenger aircraft, the Dutch aviation consulting firm t

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<v Speaker 1>O seventy estimated that there were zero point zero eight

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<v Speaker 1>fatal accidents per million flights. That is a rate of

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<v Speaker 1>one fatal accident for every twelve million flights. With a

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<v Speaker 1>safety record like that, it's hard to argue that shoulder

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<v Speaker 1>harnesses would lower the risk of flying enough to offset

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<v Speaker 1>the costs, the effort, and the resistance that such a

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<v Speaker 1>major change would generate. Lat Belts, though they help, they

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<v Speaker 1>help a lot, so when flying it's probably best to

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<v Speaker 1>buckle up and stay that way. It's for your brain's

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<v Speaker 1>own good. Today's episode was written by John Donovan and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang, with kind engineering assistance from Ramsay youngt.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other skull saving topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.