A few years ago, I saw a TV show about the crash landing of United Airlines flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa featuring an interview with the chief flight attendant, Jan Brown-Lohr. In preparation for the emergency landing, she had given airline-prescribed instructions to passengers with lap children. The consequences were terrible.
I couldn’t help but remember that story when I read a Jet with Kids blog entry regarding an NTSB recommendation to the FAA on the safety of young children:
“Children under the age of 2 are allowed to sit on an adult’s lap – endangering not only themselves but every other passenger in the airplane cabin if there is unexpected turbulence or aborted take off or a crash landing.”
Eep. I’ll keep that in mind when I have kids.