February 27, 2017 11:58 PM By Greg Argos
DENVER (CBS) Bend over, heads down. Jump, jump. Jump!
Its the last thing youd ever want to hear while flying, but in flight emergencies happen.
Since 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration recorded more than five dozen unplanned evacuations.
We yell and scream to the best of our ability to leave everything and get out of the aircraft, saidStefanie Coppedge, in-flight training manager withFrontier Airlines.
What you do the moment you board a flight could make the difference between life and death, if youre ever forced to get off and get off quickly.
Frontier Airlines allowed CBS 3 unprecedented access to their 21-day flight attendant training facility in Denver.
And though passenger comfort is important, Coppedge says most of the three-week program focuses on passenger safety.
The public has the conception that its Coke or diet Coke, Coppedge says. Well, were first aid responders. We have to know CPR. We have to be able to know every part of the aircraft because if something happens to the wing, in the cockpit, they dont have that visual, right? They cant look to see whats going on in the wing.
And perhaps most importantly, flight instructors have to know how to get passengers off planes.
In flight instructor Michelle Knudson says the FAA requires airlines to evacuate all passengers in just a minute and a half.
And accomplishing that means using emergency evacuation slides.
If a passenger went into negative panic, wed give them a little gentle push to start that jump process,Coppedge says.
Though Frontier also uses training simulators and mock ups of partial plane cabin, a real emergency is often much more chaotic.
We want to shout positive commands to tell them what to do cause we dont know how our passengers are going to react in an emergency, said Knudson. So telling them what to do will help guide them to get out safely.
In a commercial airliner crash, experts say there is often the threat of fire, so flight attendants are also trained as firefighters.
Fire is a huge threat on board the aircraft in flight, says Knudson. You know we cant just leave, run. So we need to fight that fire immediately, get to the source of it and there is a limited amount of time.
Thats why its so important to listen to instructions and leave everything behind.
Last October, an American Airlines plane caught fire in Chicago.
Video taken by passengers on board show the evacuation was slowed by some taking their personal items, or simply not knowing what to do. Everyone escaped, but one crew member and seven passengers were injured.
Leave everything, meaning your personal items, they can be replaced but you, yourself might not, Knudson said. And I think some passengers dont realize that can be a big effect on whether you get out of that aircraft safely or not.
Statistically flying is the safest form of travel but if youre ever forced to get off at an unexpected stop, take ten seconds to read the Safety Information Card (SIC).
You just never know. The majority of evacuations occur unplanned, so you just need to be prepared in the event something does happen, said Knudson. Statistically, they have shown that passengers who look at the SIC have a better success rate in an evacuation of getting out safely.
And please, dont take anything with you down the slide.
I think the one tip is to go straight to that exit and evacuate leave everything behind, saidKnudson.
Greg Argos joined CBS 3s Eyewitness News team as a general assignment reporter in August, 2015. A New Jersey native who grew up in Dover, Delaware, Argos came to CBS 3 from KPHO-TV in Phoenix where he had been a reporter and back up anchor s...
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CBS 3 Gets Rare Access Into Life-Saving 21-Day Flight Attendant Training Program - CBS Philly
