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UNCOVERED: Flight mistakes passengers make - Caught on Camera
Air travel is one of the safest things in the world. According to the International Air Transport Association’s recent safety report, the all-accident rate in 2025 was a mere 1.32 per million flights. That amounts to 1 accident per 759,646 flights. But it is up to each and every single passenger, alongside working professionals, to make sure that it stays that way. If you refuse to listen to the flight staff and pilots, you might be putting everyone’s precious lives in danger, not just your own.
Aviation industry professionals took to an informative online thread to shed some light on the most important things that plane passengers should do, as well as the most dangerous behaviors to avoid. We’ve collected their top advice below, and we hope you’re taking notes.
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#1
A lot of people wear shorts in the middle of January in Minneapolis because they're heading to Aruba or whatever. You never know when you might be standing on the side of a runway for 30-45 minutes because you had to evacuate. On top of the cold, the slides will burn your legs from the heat they produce when you whip down them. You go wicked fast. Don't drag your hands either.
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#2
Not a flight attendant/pilot but I have a degree in aerospace engineering, which includes a lot of aviation courses. The reason they tell you to ask the cabin crew for help if you lose your phone is not to be friendly or show how helpful they are. It's because if your phone is in a seat mechanism and that seat gets moved, the phone will be shredded, the battery may explode, and if it does it will likely hurt everyone on board.
#3
I’m a flight attendant. aside from the typical seatbelt etc that’s been mentioned, here’s a couple that most people do not think of:
-inflight, people grabbing their stuff from the overhead bin… and never closing the bin. god forbid clear air turbulence hits and jolts a few of those 35 pound rollaboards out of the overhead bin, someone can get seriously hurt. i don’t understand why people don’t just close the bin.
-also overhead bin related, when the flight attendants are in the aisle w/ the cart serving beverages and you’re seated right by them… please stop opening the overhead bin that’s directly next to where they’re standing. You can wait the few minutes it takes for them to get out of your area. I had some person do this while i was pouring coffee, they dropped their backpack on me and I spilled hot coffee all over a passenger. I felt so awful for the scalded passenger and it took everything in me not to go off on the other one. We’re crouching, shifting, taking a step back/forward while holding multiple drinks, etc. when working the cart… that is not the time to open an overhead bin directly next to us. We’ll be out of your area in just a few minutes, it isn’t worth the risk.
The IATA reports that in 2025, there were 51 accidents among a whopping 38.7 million flights. This is less than in 2024 (54 accidents among 37.9 million flights), but higher than the 44 accident average between 2021 and 2025. Last year, there were a total of 8 fatal accidents, including 398 onboard fatalities.
“Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel. Accidents are extremely rare and each one reminds us to be even more focused on continuous improvement through global standards and collaboration guided by safety data. The result of that effort is clear in how the five-year rolling average rate for fatal accidents has improved,” says Willie Walsh, the IATA’s Director General.
#4
I'm not a pilot nor a flight attendant but I think this is important - in case of a water landing, never inflate your life jacket inside the plane. This is because, if water fills the plane, you will float to the top inside the plane and won't be able to get out the door. So please listen to the flight attendants on when to inflate them.
Giraffe Sitter 6 hours ago
Also you could tear the inflated vest while exiting and then you have nothing to float with.
#5
Even though lap infants are allowed, do so at your own risk. They aren't allowed to share your seat belt and in the event of severe turbulence or a crash, they'll be the 1st thing to go flying out of your arms.
Upstaged75 9 hours ago
I've never understood why babies don't need to be in a secured seat. I get not wanting to buy a separate ticket, but I think their life is most important.
#6
Wear your seatbelts when seated, don't stay out of your seat for too long. Both because turbulence isn't always visible and it is more common. Also stay seated on the ground until the seatbelt sign is off. Airplanes can brake quite abruptly.
Don't use (or even take) a temu/shein/ali/any powerbank, nothing is as scary as a lithium fire in an aluminium tube 10k up. Also, when your phone disappears into the seat (mostly in the most expensive class), immediately alert a crewmember and do not move your seat, again because of fire.
And if you have to evacuate, please, PLEASE, leave your stuff behind. I know it's bad to potentially lose your stuff, but your carry-on might be the difference between a successful evacuation and a burning wreck with 123 bodies.
Jo Firth 7 hours ago
I recently took 12 flights (Aus-Thailand-Norway-Finland-Singapore-Aus) and every flight I checked into I was asked if I had a power bank in my checked or cabin baggage. Hopefully people answer honestly because these are a real threat. Onboard you are told to alert crew if a phone/laptop/tablet you are charging starts to heat up.
“A decade ago, the rate stood at one fatal accident for every 3.5 million flights (2012-2016). Today, it is one fatal accident for every 5.6 million flights (2021-2025). Flying is so safe that even one accident among the nearly 40 million flights operated annually moves the global data. Every accident is, of course, one too many. The goal for aviation remains zero accidents and zero fatalities,” Walsh emphasized.
#7
Ignoring the brace position. When they say ‘heads down, stay down’…..Your floppy neck is the reason of casualties in survivable crashes. Tensing up saves lives.
#8
Taking your shoes off before we take off or not putting them on before landing. If there's going to be an incident that requires us to evacuate, statistically it's going to be during the takeoff roll or after the planned descent. You don't want to be sliding down the slide and walking outside without shoes on.
Upstaged75 9 hours ago
How about don't EVER take your shoes off on a plane! That's just rude - no one wants to smell your manky feet.
#9
If you’re a nervous flyer, sucking down martinis before departure is not a good option, neither is taking your preferred sleeping pill. 9 times out of 10 when we have an issue in flight it’s because someone decided they needed to soothe their nerves or get their money’s worth in the lounge. Ultimately this ends up (best case) with some additional time for them in their originating city or having an entourage meet us when we land. The fact of the matter is, when you need your wits about you to gtfo you are stumbling around and blocking other people around you which leads to a very dangerous situation.
Ace 1 hour ago
I was always a strategic drinker when I was doing regular transatlantic flights. BA business class, so probably a quick glass of champagne in the Swiss airport lounge, but nothing on the quick flight over to Heathrow, but another glass or three and some nice food in the excellent lounges there, then one more on board before relaxing for an hour or three before having a glass or three of wine with my dinner. I'd got it down to a fine art to maximise sleep time and minimise stress and tiredness the next day at work.
Have you ever worked in the flight industry? If so, what was your job, and what are the most important safety insights you can share with us?
What are the most jaw-droppingly awful, unsafe, scariest, and most entitled passenger behaviors you’ve seen while traveling? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this list.
#10
Had a guy vape in the bathroom and it forced an emergency landing. They had to bring the maintenance crew on to replace the detector after de-planing everyone. Idiot was arrested; looked 19. Missed the entire reason I was flying.
#11
We once timed out because a passenger was in the lav and took too long. We were literally 5 feet from the runway. We made multiple announcements to remain seated we are cleared for takeoff but can’t take off with someone in the lav. I could hear people shouting in the back telling the person to get out. But they didn’t leave until we were 30 seconds past our wheels up time. At that point it is illegal for us to depart so we had to go back to the gate.
Stay in your seat and hold it if the crew tells you, it absolutely can be the difference of getting to your destination or not.
#13
Dont put that duty free 1L glass bottle of grey goose in the overhead locker, put it under your feet. It becomes a sledgehammer when you open the locker to look for whatever, at best it's glass clean up operation with everyone in their socks, at worst its an emergency landing with blankets covering the victim.
#14
Former FA here, fire is the biggest risk. Most domestic aircraft fly with 2 fire extinguishes on board. Both with about 10 seconds of extinguisher per canister. Thats 20 seconds worth of ammo to extinguish any fire in the cabin that’s filled with oxygen traveling at 400+ MPH.
So when your drunk aunt believes herself to be entitled to her drink via her preferred delivery method at 35,000 feet instead of chewing a piece of nicotine gum, please know every member of that flight crew wants to direct her to the smoking section on the wing.
Similar vein; do not wear clothes made of plastic. You don’t have to be very close to flames for indirect heat to melt those yoga pants, stockings, or Under Armour directly to your skin from a pretty far distance.
Upstaged75 9 hours ago
Most of my clothes are made of bamboo. (Because I'm a sweaty menopausal woman and bamboo is cooler) Do I need to worry more about catching on fire or being a.ttacked by pandas?? 😁
#15
Do not unbuckle seatbelts until the plane arrives at the gate and the lights go off. A sudden stop even at a crawl can send you flying (no pun intended), due to the weight of the plane.
Also do place your bags where you’re supposed to and not on your lap. In an emergency you don’t want that to go flying (again - no pun intended) and hit someone’s face.
#16
Count the rows to the exits. It’s a little thing but can help when there is an incident and your brain wants to panic. Lots of people freeze in an emergency when they should get up and get out of the plane
Also if you have small children make sure they know which parent will grab them and get them out.
#17
As a former flight attendant, my biggest pet peeve is flight attends that allow those sitting in the exit row to have bulky items under the seat in front of them that blocks half the isle. I always select the exit row to sit in, but when seeing my fellow passengers with mini suitcases half shoved under a seat it terrifies me.
#18
Leaving your seatbelt unfastened just because the captain turned the sign off. Clear air turbulence cannot be detected by radar and hits completely without warning. I have seen passengers literally launch out of their seats and break their collarbones on the ceiling because they thought the sign being off meant they were perfectly safe.
#19
Obligatory not a pilot or flight crew, but not paying attention to the inflight safety briefing before takeoff. It really is important that you know what to do in an emergency, the small difference between knowing exactly where to go to get out of a plane and having to look around for it, especially if you can’t actually see where you’re going because the cabin is filling with smoke, could absolutely be the difference between getting out and not.
#20
European FA here ✌🏻
1. People who can’t take their children crying during take off or landing so they release the kid’s seat belt when FAs can’t see
2. Same people who think its safer to have the kid on their lap and they wrap their seat belt around both of them, not thinking that in case of any kind of breaking etc. their whole body weight is on the kid
3. People who purchase all kinds of gadgets for comfy travel and attach them on their seat/seatback not thinking that in case of an emergency they might get stuck (especially in smoke or darkeness). These are usually americans.
4. Loose items on the floor next to the emergency exits (I know its allowed in the US).
What do you think ?
Rose the Cook 6 hours ago
If you put anything in the overhead bins please be sure it is secure. On an internal flight in China I was pelted with unripe peaches when some fool didn't ensure the bag was securely closed.
Rose the Cook 6 hours ago
If you put anything in the overhead bins please be sure it is secure. On an internal flight in China I was pelted with unripe peaches when some fool didn't ensure the bag was securely closed.
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