Christine Negroni has shared a top tip for nervous plane passengers when it comes to preparing to take a flight, to increase the chances of survival in an accident
From having easy access to a plane’s exits to knowing how to get into the brace position, air safety experts have many tips when it comes to surviving the unthinkable. Thankfully, the chances of dying in a plane crash are extremely remote, with experts estimating a person’s odds as 1 in 11 million.
The chances of dying by drowning in a bath, succumbing to food poisoning or being fatally struck by lightening are in fact much higher than losing your life in a plane crash – but nervy flyers might still want to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Aviation safety expert Christine Negroni spoke to US morning show AM Northwest and one piece of her advice might seem surprising. “You see people either in Birkenstocks, love them but they’re not good for an airplane. High heel shoes, they’re not good for an airplane,” she explained.
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“You want to be able to flee. Take a look at any airplane accident in which there are survivors and you’re going to see a lot of stuff. You’re going to see glass on the runway, ice on the runway, fuel on the runway and sometimes fire on the runway or on the pavement and that’s where you need to run.”
Christine, who has authored book about plane crashes, cited a crash in Iowa in the United States that dates back to 1989 as one example. The United Airlines Flight 232 accident saw the plane crash after a catastrophic engine failure and loss of hydraulic flight controls.
The pilots of the plane, which had been flying from Denver to Chicago, attempted an emergency landing at Sioux Gateway Airport when it skidded sideways and rolled onto its back. Of the 296 people on the flight, 184 survived.
“The famous accident in Sioux City, Iowa, people had to run through a corn field,” said the expert. “You’re not going to be doing that in high heels or flip-flops. Sensible shoes – easy on, easy off, thick sole.”
Vishwashkumar Ramesh was recently the sole survivor of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash, which saw the plane plunge from the sky shortly after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad for London. Vishwashkumar, 40, managed to get out of the wreckage through an opening in the fuselage.
“For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too but when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive,” he said. “I still can’t believe how I survived. I walked out of the rubble.”
The cause of the crash on June 12 has not yet been determined. A total of 241 of the people on board the plane perished in the tragedy and 19 people on the ground lost their lives too.