Why cant you close the blind on a plane?

Question

during take off and landing, we closed ours and the hostess told us we had to open it again, whats up with that?

Answer 1

they want to keep the aircraft cool and the sun getting in will warm up the aircraft and make you feel good.

Answer 2

i wondered this too when i flew back from turkey a few weeks ago!!!

Answer 3

i think i heard one time that it was to scare little red riding hood so she wouldnt get eaten by the evil pineapple driving the plane. does anyone know where my shoes are?

Answer 4

It comes from the hijackings that happened in the 1970s and 1980s.  It's a visual and a security precaution.  Back in the day, hijackers would close all the shades to block the visual.  We also got US Marshall's on the planes, baggage checks (bags on the plane match passengers), x-rays, and metal detectors from the early hijackings.

Answer 5

It is nothing to do with pressure.  It is so if there is a crash, they can see into the plane to look for people easier.

Answer 6

I had heard that generally in a hijacking, the hijacker will say to close all the blinds, so if someone outside the plane (while it's on the ground) sees that the plane has its blinds up, that's a good indicator that it hasn't been hijacked.

I'm not sure if it's really true or not, though.  The one about inspectors looking inside after the crash sounds good.

Answer 7

Basically three reasons, so your eyes are adjusted to the light or dark outside in an emergency evacuation, also so the flight crew can assess the conditions outside the plane should you need to evacuate as well as emergency crews being able to see in. In mid-flight it doesn't matter, you're most likely a goner anyhow.

Answer 8

Hazeltin got it in one. In the event of a crash, rescue services have more chance of seeing what is happening inside before entering. This is for their safety and as well as the safety of those on board.

The reason why the lights are also dimmed at night is that in a crash lights on floor are illuminated to help oriented survivors so that they can find the exits.

If they crash in mid-flight with the blinds down, tough luck. By far the most dangerous periods of a flight is when taking off and landing

Hope that helps