Gerrard Kaonga
A pilot has revealed why the brace position has been adopted by airlines and dismissed one of the long-held conspiracies about it.
If you have taken your earphones out and listened to the air hostess speaking at the start of your flight, you’ll likely be aware of the instructions they tell you about in the event of an emergency.
One of the instructions often given is to assume the ‘brace’ position in the situation where an impact is expected. If not spoken audibly by the hostess, one of the pamphlets may also explain getting into the position. Thankfully, most of us have never needed to do put their hands behind their heads and curl down so it's between their knees.
Well, long-time pilot Nick Eades has explained the real reason airline adopted the position, as rumors have circulated the internet for decades.
Advert
One of the long-standing rumors is that the position will actually kill you faster and painlessly in the event of a crash.
Eades explained the truth is actually the opposite of that.
He said: "What you're trying to do is to stop people breaking their necks in a big impact. You're just trying to get the body into a position that's going to suffer the least damage. It's like whiplash - you're trying to avoid that sudden movement of the head, which can result in serious injury, if not death.”
Whiplash is where the head is jerked forward suddenly by a crash which can cause serious neck and spinal injuries. Tucking your head up means that you are in a position which is less likely to see your head thrown violently forward if you stop suddenly.
Eades said he'd only had to use the command on a 'couple' of occasions during his long career.
He said: "I've had a couple where we had problems with the landing gear, and the cabin crew shouted to all the passengers 'brace, brace!'."
The pilot added that the command is falling out of use, saying: "Now, if you think about it, I would say at least half - probably three-quarters - of passengers on the aeroplane don't speak English as a first language."
Explaining, he said: "It took a long time for the aviation world to realise if you're suddenly thrown into an emergency situation and people start shouting 'brace' at you, you might think, 'what the hell do they mean?'
"They'll replace it with 'heads down, hands over your head. At least that gives somebody in probably the most stressful position they'll ever be in in their lives something to do.”
The more you know!