The Daily Beast Podcast’s Guide to Surviving a Plane Crash
The recent spate of plane crashes and extreme turbulence across the United States—and around the world—are enough to make even the hardiest frequent flyers anxious when boarding. You know all about the “jello rule,” but still… Luckily, The Daily Beast Podcast has you covered!
On this week’s episode, hosts Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee welcomed Ben Sherwood, The Daily Beast’s publisher and CEO—and author of The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life, a New York Times Bestseller—to share his tips on surviving a plane crash amid what Coles labeled “this recent trend straight from hell.”
“The fact is that there is just a series of coincidences right now in terms of the most recent accidents,” Sherwood said. “While people want to blame DEI or people want to blame (the) FAA or people want to blame the air traffic system, the simple truth about air travel is that it has never been safer.”
Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t prioritize your own safety. The first and most important thing: Pick your plane seat wisely—within five rows of any emergency exit, Sherwood said. (And yes, he follows this rule himself.) Once seated? Wear your seatbelt low and tight, just like the safety demonstration suggests.
Another key detail to keep in mind is the timing. “The first three minutes of a flight, and the last eight minutes of the flight, are when almost all of the accidents happen,” Sherwood said—in other words, don’t call for a cocktail before you’re even in the air, even if the flight crew are feeling generous. (Don’t knock too many back at the airport bar either.) “You want to be alert and ready so that in the event that you have to move quickly, you can move quickly,” he noted.
And stay relaxed: “People under stress, people who are anxious in the air… there are many more health complications from the anxiety and the stress that people have about flying than the actual flying itself,” Sherwood said. So maybe do call for a cocktail after all? But only after those first three minutes in-flight, of course.
For more survival tips—and some survivalist tips too, it turns out—listen along to this week’s Daily Beast Podcast in full.
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