Why do we need to open all passenger's windows?

Question

Why do we need to open all passengers window before the flight take off and land?

Is there any particular reason for that?

Answer 1

In the event of a cabin fire, it makes it easier to see.  When the smoke begins to fill the cabin, it gets really dark, very quickly.  With the shades up, light from outside the aircraft can get in and even a little light helps see when you're crawling to the nearest exit.

The FAA has a great video on how quickly the cabin gets dark when filled with smoke.

Answer 2

You are asked to raise your shade so that in the event of an accident you can see through the window to help you remain oriented (which way is up, etc.). Because of this, it lets you see what hazards there are outside the plane (fires, debris and such), which would be important during an evacuation. It also serves as a way to let light into the cabin and make it easier for rescuers to see inside.

Upon descent (and also if you are taking off at night) they dim the lights to help your eyes adjust to the darkness, so if anything happens and it goes dark, you're not suddenly blinded while dashing for the exits. It makes the emergency path/exit lights more visible, as these might be the only lights you see in an emergency. As with the shades, it allows you to see outside for orientation, because with the cabin lights burning brightly, the glare would make it impossible.

For more in-depth information, plus security rules and I wrote a small about flying that goes more in-depth, gives security rules and regulations for the US, EU, UK, and Australia, offers tips and tricks for the travel, etc.

http://www.angelfire.com/jamiehassen79/t...

Answer 3

Because it's rather dangerous to do it while in flight.

Answer 4

Good answers, like the one from the flight crew/pilot. Last time I flew, they asked me to keep my shoes on, and explained that if they had to make an emergency landing "...it can get a little hot under foot, if you know what I mean."

Way to reassure the passengers, lol

Answer 5

windows??? WHAT??

Answer 6

passengers'

Answer 7

To make sure monsters aren't on the wings trying to make the aeroplane crash.

Answer 8

so in event of a crash the rescue services can see in

Answer 9

YES open all the windows.

Don't be stupid know,people don't have to alert the staff wtf ,the pilots can see it on their instruments or thier computers.

Answer 10

Well, we open the shades in case of an emergency landing the light from the inside filters in if the lighting fails.  I have been on some flights into some, ahem, "interesting" locations were we have to CLOSE the shades for landing and we turn off ALL the lights inside.  That's a little spooky.

Answer 11

That is something that most airlines have adopted into there standard operating procedures. The reason for this is if the aircraft is going to have some sort of incident or accident it is more likely to happen during take off and landings, so having the windows shades in the open position allow the first responders to see into the aircraft to access the situation (ie. is there a fire) and it also allows the passengers to do the same with the outside of the aircraft.  

Answer 12

the main reason for this is so that your eyes are adjusted to the outside light in the event of an emergency. If all the shudders were closed and it was very sunny outside, your eyes would be dilated and if you needed to evacuate once you get to the E-exit, you wouldn't be able to see anything and it would slow the process of the evacuation down. This is also why they dim the cabin lights for take off day or night.

Answer 13

To get air.

Answer 14

There are a lot of reasons. One of the main ones is so that in the event of an emergency, the passengers and crew can see any debris or fire outside the aircraft and make a better decision regarding whether and how to evacuate.

The least obvious one is purely psychological. With the shutters open, you have a big world. You know you're in a plane and that you're on a runway, and so on. With the shutters close, you lose the rest of the world. You're in a plane, and that's the whole world.

In an emergency, if the shutters were close, to escape the aircraft, you'd need to reorient yourself. You'd need to remember that you're on an airplane and that there's a runway outside. This would likely happen as you got to the top of the escape slide, causing you to freeze for a few extra seconds.

What's out there? Is it light out? Is it dark? What's around you? All those things would go through your head and waste valuable evacuation time.

The FAA determined that you cannot evacuate a plane fast enough if most of the passengers freeze for this readjustment.