Important reason why flight attendants sit on their hands during takeoff and landing
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
If you've ever wondered why flight attendants sit on their hands during takeoff, it's not just to keep their hands warm.
As any frequent flyer will know, when a flight attendant buckles up for takeoff, they'll often sit on their hands once they safely have their belts on.
You may have noticed that they also sit in this position during taxi and landing.
But it's not just some kind of nervous tick that almost all cabin crew have, it's something that they're advised to do — and for an important reason.
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Cabin crew are advised to sit in the brace position during take off, which includes sitting on your hands.
According to Henny Lim, a flight attendant for Cebu Pacific in the Philippines, this involves: fastening your seatbelt securely; sitting upright; sitting on your hands (palms up); having your arms loose and putting your feet flat on the floor.
"The aim is to keep the body in a rigid pose, so that if there was any impact from an unplanned emergency, the body is damaged less," Lim explained further, as per PEOPLE.
"This keeps body movement restricted so that there is less chance of injury if there was an impact."
Another flight attendant called Anusha Pratima echoed similar sentiments on a Quora thread.
She said: "While we are seated on the jumpseat during taxing, take off, approach and landing, the crew must always be alert for any dangerous situations that may occur during the flight. Hence the importance of brace positions. Brace positions restrict the movement of your limbs and spine which allows lesser damage to the body upon impact."
However, Anusha did note that some guidelines have changed over the years and it's now advised that cabin crew sit with their hands on their laps instead.
She did also admit that she personally prefers to sit on her hands though because it keeps them warm.
"It’s always freezing and I need to warm my hands," Anusha said.
You might have noticed that the brace position passengers are advised to take in the case of an emergency is different.
It bares some similarities to the position flight attendants have to take, but, according to Simple Flying, passengers should 'bend the upper torso well forward and place your head against the backrest of the seat in front' instead of sitting up straight like cabin crew.
People are also told to 'place hands flat to the left and right beside the head against the seat in front'.