Importance of the Flight Attendant Emergency Exit Door Briefing

Great legroom comes with great responsibility. Every aircraft’s emergency exit door is a critical and necessary safety feature, enabling faster evacuation in the event of an unfortunate incident such as a crash landing or onboard fire. This is why paying attention to the flight attendant’s emergency exit door briefing is crucial.

That being said, passengers must know how to open the emergency exit doors, and it falls upon cabin crew members to brief every passenger seated in an aircraft’s emergency exit row.

However, flight attendants have reported that passengers scold them for informing them about the emergency exit. It’s akin to chastising someone who is simply teaching you how to succeed in life.

Emergency Exit Door Briefing is a Requirement

We purchase plane tickets to travel from point A to point B safely, right? So, when we board an airplane, we expect to arrive safely at our destination. However, we all know that no man-made object is perfect, and anything can happen; therefore, being prepared for anything is always best, right?

The aircraft is equipped with emergency safety features such as oxygen masks, life vests, escape path marking, emergency exit doors, and most importantly, flight attendants! They are there to ensure your safety and that you understand how to use all the safety features, which is why they must brief you on the emergency exit doors just as they brief you on oxygen masks and other safety features.

No matter how frequently you fly, it’s critical to allow your flight attendant to brief you on the exit doors without shooing them away! And yes, as a passenger, you are required to pay attention to them.

Reasons why flight attendants must always do the briefing:

1. Even if you are a frequent flyer, you do not always sit on the exit row, so you may have forgotten how to open it, and the cabin crew is simply reminding you. Thank you!
2. Some people who sit in the exit rows are first-time flyers, while others are frequent flyers. As a result, they may be unfamiliar with how to open emergency exit doors.
3. Even if the cabin crew asks a passenger if they know how to open the emergency exit door, how confident is the cabin crew that he truly does? It is always better to be safe than sorry.
4. Passengers seated near the exit row are made aware of their responsibility to open it; therefore, having accepted such responsibility, they must be instructed on how to open it.
5. Hundreds of passengers may perish if flight attendants fail to carry out the emergency door briefing and passengers are unable to open them immediately when needed during an emergency. Every second is crucial!
6. Cabin crew members in the Philippines are legally protected in order to carry out their duties as safety professionals. Section 81 (b), paragraph (9) of Republic Act No. 9497, also known as the “Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008,” states that “Any person who, while on board an aircraft, interferes with a crewmember’s or flight attendant’s performance of their duties, assaults, intimidates, or threatens any crewmember or flight attendant, shall be subjected to imprisonment from one (1) year to three (3) years or a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (Php50,000.00) but not exceeding Five hundred thousand pesos (Php500,000.00), or both, as determined by the court.” Yes, you could be arrested or detained if you refuse to listen to or allow your cabin crew to brief you on the emergency exit doors.

We must always be mindful of the emergency exit door briefing.

So, why don’t we have the right to prevent our cabin crew from performing the emergency exit briefing, no matter how many times we fly? Simple! That is exactly what we paid for: to arrive at our destinations safely and intact. Knowing how and when to use the safety and emergency equipment on board is part of the flight safety procedure, which is why you are briefed on the emergency exit door.

Last but not least, trust me when I say that listening to or paying attention to your cabin crew will not diminish your value as a person. Your cabin crew will even explain how to open the emergency exit doors in less than a minute.