Some people are so dazzled they will just remain in their seats and then go unconscious because of the smoke... I made some research about plane accidents, and here's what I learned: When entering the plane, take note where the exits are. If there's going to be a crash landing, brace your head against the front seat, so that you don't get knocked out. Also brace your limbs (legs under your own chair) so they don't hit something and break, there might be a lot of g-force, and you'll need your legs in order to get out.
As soon as the plane is on the ground, unbuckle yourself and get out! Statistically you need to get out within 20 seconds in order to survive! So just leave everything, climb the seats if the center is clogged. The doors are opened manually (by the flight personnel if they're able to) by pushing a lever, and might open slowly to leave some time for the escape slide to inflate. If you land in water, you only want to open the upper section of the door to not let in water.
Once out, go 100 meters or so away from the crash site to avoid smoke and be safe from explosions. But don't go too far away or you might get lost because of confusion and shock.
is there any good reason why the seatbelts don't also go over the torso like in a car? I can understand that amusement-park style "seat belts" would be too heavy, but couldn't a quick-inflate airbag in similar shape provide similar functionality, but then activated by the crew instead of collision detection?
> There are a few reasons why the lift-lever lap belt vanished from cars but not from airplanes. For one thing, a shoulder harness in a car is attached to the car’s frame, a very sturdy part of the car. In an airplane, it would have to be attached to the wall (“bulkhead”), which is less sturdy. You could attach it to the seat, but you’d have to reinforce the seat, which increases weight, which we don’t want.
> The aircraft industry has made some minor steps towards upgrading this system, instituting belts that actually have little airbags right in them. But the venerable lift-lever lap-borne seatbelt costs about $50 each, and passes the FAA’s requirements. So they remain in our seats.
