April 3, 2019, 5:38 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Whether in the overhead compartment, the kitchen, or the restroom, it’s rare for a fire to break out on a plane. To ensure the fire doesn’t pose a danger to the crew and passengers, flight attendants learn during their training how to act in an emergency. TRAVELBOOK attended one of these training sessions.
Have you ever wondered what actually happens if a fire breaks out on a plane? After all, you can’t just call the fire department. Instead, the flight attendants are responsible for controlling the fire. Such situations can become threatening if no one takes action. Besides the still all-too-common cigarette in the restroom trash can, the risk of burning batteries in phones or laptops has increased in recent years.
Smoking is prohibited on passenger planes worldwide–yet cigarettes are still found in the trash. This alone is bad enough, but it becomes life-threatening if they are not properly extinguished. Paper towels, in particular, can catch fire extremely quickly.
20 Critical Minutes
A fire on board can become life-threatening extremely quickly. A British study from 2002 found that the time from noticing the fire to death from, for example, smoke inhalation, should be only about 20 minutes. It’s all the more important for flight attendants to remain calm and know what to do in a dangerous situation.
Read the best travel stories in advance for free! Sign up for the TRAVELBOOK newsletter now!
Flight attendants who undergo their SEP training (SEP stands for Safety and Emergency Procedures) at the Lufthansa Aviation Center prepare for a fire on board in the “Real Fire Fighting Trainer.”
There, they train for emergencies with real fire. You can see what that looks like in the video above!