Silent Review | Prepare Cabin Crew to Handle Unplanned Aircraft Emergencies Correctly

Silent review of emergency procedures by Cabin Crew is a safety practice done by Cabin Crew, the objective of this safety practice is to mentally prepare Cabin Crew for any unplanned aircraft emergencies that may occur during takeoff and landing. 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 element of preparation for unplanned aircraft emergencies. any Cabin Crew reading this article, they must believe in the importance of silent review and encourage other cabin crew members to perform it each flight.

To be honest with you, I used to perform a silent review around 75% of the total of my flights as a Cabin Crew member in the past. for the remaining 25%, I have joined a group conversation with other Cabin Crew members during takeoff and landing.  We were doing the wrong thing.

 

 Preflight Briefing

 To plan for a flight, the Senior Cabin Crew [Purser ] prepare the safety briefing in advance. This safety briefing highlight 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 Cabin Crew to correctly initiate unplanned aircraft emergency evacuations.

 

Performing 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 on assigned emergency position. 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 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, the shouting commands for emergency evacuation on the land is different from the shouting commands for emergency evacuation on the sea. During performing silent review each Cabin Crew Member will ask himself what is 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- Door Operation

Operating of aircraft door is varied due to 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 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- Evacuation Procedures

Cabin Crew members must know when to evacuate and when not, 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 (ABP’s)

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

 F- Responsibility

T- Threat

Regardless of the format used by airlines for the silent review, these help Cabin Crew to reflect on how to complete their emergency duties and 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.

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