THE injuries suffered by 45 passengers on a jet traveling from Manila to Tokyo on Friday are emblematic of the need for air passengers to take seriously the numerous safety precautions developed over the years by air traffic experts. International regulations state that passengers should be advised to keep their safety belts fastened “in the event of unexpected turbulence,” a warning that is routinely transmitted to passengers on both long and short haul flights. Although tremendous advances in technology and communication have enabled aircraft to avoid dangerous storms and, for the most part, dangerous turbulence but that does not mean that, as was the case with the Northwest Airlines flight bound for Tokyo, that turbulence is always foreseeable. Perhaps it is the ever-increasing safety of air travel that has lulled travelers into a state of false security when it comes to traversing the skies in jet planes. Statistically, it is safer to be traveling 35,000 feet in the air than it is to be driving your car on a street or highway. But that level of safety has come about only because of the intense study, accumulation of knowledge and serious implementation of it of those who have dedicated themselves to making air travel safe. All of these people will tell you the same thing: turbulence, in and of itself, may be a little scary for the average traveler, but it is extremely rare that it presents any danger. Planes are built to withstand and absorb different kinds of stress. The danger associated with turbulence, however, comes when it is unexpected and passengers are either milling around the inside of the aircraft or are seated without fastened seatbelts. Preliminary descriptions of Friday's incident refer to passengers flying out of their seats and suffering head and neck injuries after striking the ceiling of the plane. If those passengers had paid attention to the safety warning that many of them have probably heard numerous times in their lives, their injuries could easily have been averted. Indeed, how many times are planes decelerating after landing, still traveling well over 100mph, and flight attendants are forced to shout at passengers to take their seats? It happens all the time. The safety of air travel has developed because of the responsibility of individuals who have banded together to impose rules and regulations on everything from structural composition of the planes to passenger behavior. That does not relieve the individual of the responsibility of obeying safety regulations to ensure his or her own safety. __
