IATA recommended that “Silent Review” be included in all Cabin Crew safety training courses: initial and recurrent training.
In this article, I am going to write about the basic elements of preparation for unplanned aircraft emergencies. Any Cabin Crew reading this article, must believe in the importance of silent review for flight safety and encourage other cabin crew members to perform it each flight.
To be honest with you, I used to perform a silent review around 99% of the total of my flights as a Cabin Crew member in the past. And you shall do it, during take-off and landing.
Cabin Crew Pre-flight Briefing
To plan for a flight, the Senior Cabin Crew [Purser ] prepares the safety briefing in advance. This safety briefing highlights many safety key points such as:
- Emergency positions
- Emergency responsibilities
- The chain of command
- Communication / CRM
- Teamwork
- Crew coordination
It's the responsibility of The Senior Cabin Crew [Purser] to focus on the importance of the silent review and how it helps the Cabin Crew to correctly initiate unplanned aircraft emergency evacuations.
How the Cabin Crew Perform Silent Review
Before take-off, Cabin Crew must be seated at their assigned stations with their seat belt and harnesses fastened and conduct a silent review of their emergency drills.
The same, before landing. Side conversations between Cabin Crew Members may enjoy them but can not help them save their lives and passengers too.
The Main Components of Silent Review
Cabin Crew performs a silent review of their emergency drills in assigned emergency positions. the silent review should contain all of the components needed to review evacuation duties and responsibilities. it may include, but is not limited to, the following components:
1. Brace Position/ Brace Commands.
2. Shouting Commands.
3. Door Operation.
4. Evacuation Procedures.
Now, I will explain each component separately
1 - Brace Position / Brace Commands
The main reason for bracing for impact is to reduce secondary impact. The secondary impact can be reduced by pre-positioning the body (particularly the head) against the surface.
Brace command is given by the Captain on the PA (Brace, Brace) or by any other signal such as flashing the seat belt sign continuously, approx. 500 ft / 30 seconds before impact. On hearing this command Cabin Crew will brace for impact and shout relevant commands to the passengers. They will remain in the Brace position until the aircraft has come to a complete stop.
Each cabin crew member will ask himself
Am I properly secured in my seat?
2- Shouting Commands
There are different shouting commands, and the shouting commands for emergency evacuation on land are different from the shouting commands for emergency evacuation on the sea. During performing silent review each Cabin Crew Member will ask himself what are my shouting commands.
To explain this, I will give you shouting commands of emergency landing on land. Cabin Crew will give commands to passengers for evacuation “Open Seat Belts,” “Leave Everything,” “Come this Way,” “Step-Through,” “Jump and Slide,” and “Run Away.”
Each cabin crew member will ask himself :
What are my evacuation commands?
When, where, and how do I re-direct passengers?
3- Aircraft Door Operation
The operation of aircraft doors is varied due to the many types of aircraft. Each airline includes its SOP for opening doors in normal and emergencies. Cabin Crew needs to review the standard operating procedures for opening the doors in an emergency.
Each cabin crew member will ask himself :
Which type of exit am I operating?
Which commands do I expect?
How do I check outside conditions?
How do I initiate an evacuation?
Where the location of door assist handles
How do I open the exit door?
Where is the manual inflation handle?
What is the blocked exit procedure?
4- Aircraft Evacuation Procedures
Cabin Crew members must know when to evacuate and when not, and they must identify under what circumstances they initiate an evacuation (Fire, smoke, life-threatening situations, ditching, no response from the flight crew).
Each cabin crew member will ask himself :
Which commands do I expect?
Location of Able-Bodied Passengers (ABPs)
Location of Passengers needing special assistance
Some airlines used different critical components of silent review, this example is known as OLDABC:
O- Operation of exits
L- Location of emergency equipment
D- Drills (brace for impact)
A- Able-bodied passengers and disabled passengers
B- Brace position
C- Commands
Another example of a “silent review” is ALERT.
A - Aircraft type
L- Location
E - Equipment
R- Responsibility
T- Threat
Summary
Regardless of the format of critical components of silent review used by airlines, it helps Cabin Crew to reflect on how to complete their emergency duties in the correct sequence as applicable to the emergency.
The Cabin Crew Members must perform this safety practice each flight [each take-off and landing]. And this is a reminder for them to do so.
