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8 secret airplane
safety features you didn't know existed
Abby Tang and Michelle Yan
· Planes are designed
with many safety features – from flame-resistant seat cushions to hidden
bathroom locks.
· Other safety features include black triangles and
yellow hooks.
· Airplanes also don't have oxygen tanks, but they have
ashtrays.
Narrator: This is
the bathroom door on an airplane and it can save your life. Not because it's
the only thing standing between you and the guy that ate an airport burrito
before he got on board. It actually has a hidden safety feature. Can you figure
it out?
1. Yellow hooks
In case
of an emergency that requires the pilot to land on the water, you'll be
grateful for these little yellow hooks.
The
number and placement of hooks on each wing vary from plane to plane, but they
all do the same thing: help passengers to safety.
They're
an anchor for ropes, which passengers use to steady and pull themselves across
the wing especially during a water landing.
The
ropes and hooks can also be used to tether rafts to the plane so they don't
float away as passengers board.
2. No oxygen tanks
Let's
say your plane does depressurize. You know the drill - pull down on the mask to
extend the tube, cover your nose and mouth with the yellow cup, and always put
your own mask on first.
But
wait, why do you have to pull down on the mask? It's not to reach your face.
It's actually to start a chemical reaction.
There
are no oxygen tanks on airplanes. They're just too heavy and bulky to be
practical. Instead, the panel above your head contains a chemical oxygen
generator.
It's a
small canister that holds sodium chlorate, barium peroxide, and a pinch of
potassium perchlorate. And when all three mix together, the extremely hot
chemical reaction lets off oxygen.
3. Fire-resistant cushion
Your
seat cushion functions as a flotation device, but did you know it's also
fireproof? Let's take this back a few decades.
During
a 1967 test for the first Apollo moon mission, three astronauts were killed
when the interior of the capsule caught on fire.
An
investigation showed that the craft was filled with highly flammable materials
including the foam in the seat cushions.
This
led NASA to conduct a whole slew of research for a way to cover flammable
things with a fire-resistant material.
So in
1984, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new regulations regarding the
flammability of airplane seats.
And in
fact, it's estimated that 20 to 25 lives are saved each year because their
seats don't catch on fire.
4. Black triangle
Above
some of those flame-resistant seats, you might see a little black or red
triangle. Those triangles actually signify what's nicknamed "William
Shatner's seat."
It's a
reference to a 1963 episode of "The Twilight Zone," in which
Shatner's character sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane.
The
triangles signal to the crew which windows have the best view of the wings in
case a flap malfunctions or to check to see if they've been deiced.
5. Little window hole
While
you're staring at the gremlin on the wing, you might notice a small hole in the
window.
Usually
not a good feature for a window, but necessary in this case. It's called a
bleed hole. And it prevents your airplane window from blowing out.
That's
because the air pressure inside the plane is so much greater than outside,
which would cause any normal window to explode.
But the
windows on an airplane are made up of three panes: inner, middle, and outer.
The
outer pane takes the pressure, the middle acts as a fail-safe, and the inner is
just there so passengers don't mess with the other two.
The
hole also lets moisture escape from the gaps so the windows don't fog up or
freeze.
6. Dimming lights
If the
idea of your window popping out mid-flight causes you stress, just try to keep
the shade up anyways. That simple action could give you peace of mind and
potentially save your life.
Before
taking off and landing at night, crews will often dim the cabin lights and ask
passengers to open their shades. This is to give their eyes time to adjust to
the darkness.
In case
of evacuation, passengers' eyes will already be acclimated to the blackness
outside.
If the
lights stayed on, their eyes would need time to adjust and they'd end up
wasting precious seconds stumbling blindly instead of quickly evacuating.
7. Hidden bathroom lock
While
joining the mile-high club might seem like a fun idea, you won't get the kind
of privacy you might expect.
In
fact, a crew member could open the bathroom door at any moment no matter if you
locked it or not.
On the
outside of most airplane bathroom doors is a little plate that says
"LAVATORY."
And
under that little plate is a latch that unlocks the door from the outside. This
allows the crew to access the bathroom in case of an emergency.
8. Ashtray
While
you're in the bathroom, you might notice an ashtray. "But wait,"
you think to yourself, "I thought it was illegal to smoke on planes!"
You're
right! Smoking on an airplane has been banned on US airlines since the late
1980s and could saddle you with a fine of up to $25,000.
Even
with the threat of a fine, the Federal Aviation Administration isn't taking
chances. It lists ashtrays in bathrooms as legally required to meet the minimum
equipment needed for a plane.
Trash
cans on a plane are mostly filled with flammable materials, like cocktail
napkins. So tossing a cigarette butt into one of those would not be good.
After
all, there are still plenty of things in a plane that aren't covered in
flame-resistant material.
Abby
Tang
is an associate producer for Tech Insider. She's previously worked on Business
Insider Today, Insider's daily business news show for Facebook Watch, and
Science Insider. She is a writer, producer, editor, voice over artist,
on-camera personality, and Dolly Parton fan.
Michelle
Yan
is a Video Producer for Tech Insider. She often produces videos covering
consumer tech and major tech giants, like Apple, Samsung,
and Amazon.
In addition, she enjoys being in front of the camera reviewing products
and hosting.
Michelle is best known for her videos about Louis
Vuitton earbuds, AirPods
vs AirDots comparison, and switching from her iPhone
to the Pixel 3 for a week.
Before
joining Insider, she was producing tech videos at Mashable.
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