Experts agree: Seat belts are passengers’ main recourse for staying safe during turbulence. Flight attendants and regulators say children under 2 who could fly free as lap babies should instead be buckled into a seat approved for use on planes. Hassan Shahidi, CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said people who are not buckled up suffer most of the injuries caused by turbulence.
“Every safety professional that I know, when we’re on an airplane, if I’m not up walking around for a reason, then my seat belt’s at least loosely fastened,” said John Cox, a retired airline pilot and an instructor at the University of Southern California. “The evidence is literally overwhelming that you can reduce the likelihood of injury.”
He said there’s still some risk: Another passenger could fall onto a buckled person during turbulence, or a serving cart could get loose.
“The higher number of passengers with their seat belts fastened reduces the likelihood of injury to everybody on the airplane,” said Cox, who also founded the aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems.
Doug Moss, a retired airline pilot, aviation instructor and safety consultant, said in an email that passengers should stay buckled whenever seated, even if the seat-belt sign isn’t lit. But they should definitely take it seriously when it is lit.
“Many times, the weather may actually be smooth and the sign is ON. More likely than not, that means that the pilot has reason to be expecting turbulence,” Moss said. “Just because the air is smooth at one moment doesn’t mean that turbulence isn’t only seconds ahead.”