Airline reveals secret plane feature that could save your life in an emergency
Most travellers (luckily!) don't ever get to see or experience what happens on a plane during an emergency.
But for the most part, we're aware there are many features and equipment on an aircraft specifically designed for such an occasion.
Some are definitely more obvious than others, with one airline recently revealing a little detail on its emergency row tray tables that could potentially save your life during an evacuation.
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The feature is present in an emergency exit row for added safety during an evacuation. iStock
In a now-viral video on TikTok captioned "the more you know", Swiss Airlines showed a comparison between a tray table latch in a normal row, compared to those in the emergency exit row.
"In the emergency exit row, the opening of the tray table is only possible in one direction, compared to all other seat rows," they explained.
"Like this, in the unlikely event of an emergency, an unintended opening of the tray table (due to people rushing by) is avoided."
Indeed, the clip showed the airline worker turning the tray table latch in both directions in the one row, whereas in the exit row, the latch could only be turned in the one direction away from the exit door.
You can watch the video above.
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Swiss Airlines shared the secret tray table feature on TikTok. TikTok
The footage has been viewed over 5.4 million times with people thanking the airline for sharing the handy detail.
"Makes sense.. can't catch it and have the tablet fall down causing a jam while exiting the plane," one person commented.
"Seasoned passenger but didn't knew this," another admitted.
"This changed my life," was another comment, while a fourth person wrote: "This is some serious attention to detail. Love it."
The Federal Aviation Administration has numerous regulations that govern who can, and can't, sit in an emergency exit row.
You have to be at least 15 years old and you must have sufficient mobility, strength, and dexterity in both arms, hands and legs to assist in an evacuation.
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