JAL flight, the miraculous escape, and how we all can develop a culture of safety

Most of us have read about the Tokyo airport tragedy, where the Japan Airlines flight 516 collided while landing with a Coast Guard relief plane which was unfortunately on the runway. We have also noted that there had been five deaths, all from the Coast Guard plan, and its pilot is severely injured.

What many of us have missed is that all the 267 passengers and 12 crew members of Flight 516 survived, though the plane burst into flames and was destroyed. The miraculous evacuation of all the 279 people on board happened within 90 seconds of the flight coming to a stop, and only 15 of the 279 suffered some minor injury.

How did this happen?

There are quite a few details that are emerging about the whole process, and of course, all are appreciating the Japanese way of life of being disciplined. Let’s take a stock of what we know:

1. The fire did not engulf the plane for 18 minutes, but this 18 minutes also included the time taken by the flight to come to a complete halt. During this time the flight moved two-thirds of a mile, and all passengers remained on their seats.

2. Except for a couple of children, no one made any noise. And the children also made polite requests — “Take me out of the plane”.

3. As the cabin was filled with smoke, flight attendants used a torch to guide the passengers. There were three of the six emergency slides were deployed. Passengers waited without jamming the aisle and used the slide nearest to them.

4. Shoes especially high heels, which often damage the slides, were removed without question. The slides worked perfectly, and this prevented people from falling from a height of almost three stories and injuring themselves.

5. No one carried any personal belongings except mobile phones. Almost everything including the laptops was destroyed.

Now we all know that discipline is a very significant social virtue in Japan. We have seen them standing in long lines for relief after the Tsunami, or the Japanese football fans cleaning up the stadiums across the world after a football match. Many times we also criticize the Japanese apparent compliance with law and order as a symptom of indoctrination. But for once it paid, and paid with the lives of 379 people. And I am sure this is not the last.

What are the traits of the Japanese in general that helped? I will venture to identify a few based on my limited exposure to the country:

1. A deeply respectful country that places the community well well-being at the core of its existence.

2. A sense of calm in every sphere of life, and accepting things as they come the way.

3. Belief in authority, and adherence to order.

4. Sense of perfection in everything one does.

5. The belief that actions matter more than words.

If we look at it, we will see all these contributed in their way to the JAL flight evacuation.

How do we bring such a sense of discipline into our society, especially when there is a moment of crisis? After all, we all look at how we Indians jump up from our seats the moment the aircraft comes to a halt and jostles to get down, while we all have to be on the same bus to the terminal and the same carousel for the luggage.

The challenge is, that tragedy does not happen based on who we are. It can affect us at any time. So while the world around us may not be perfect, we can build our security in some simple steps. I am a little bit of a safety freak, and this is what I have done:

1. Take all situations seriously, and do a mental map of what safety issues can occur. For example, when our kid was very young we did put the grill on all our balconies. But a few days after that I understood that we had created a cage, and in case of a fire near the main exit, we would be trapped. We then called the mason again and created three exit doors on the grill.

2. The place we stay is the biggest source of security issues, apart from the car we drive and the workplace. We must have a working fire extinguisher at home — and understand the category of fire (A, B, C, etc.) before we buy one. The prices of portable fire extinguishers vary wildly from INR 700 a kg to INR 2,500 for 0.5 kg. No corners to be cut.

3. If in a layout, ensure that the safety equipment works. In our apartment, many years back we did an audit and found that the brass couplings and nozzles are missing, hoses are missing too, and there are leakages in the underground pipes. So the water jet, which is to reach 10 floors is not going beyond the second.

The other major safety threat is elevators. They can be a living hell if one is stuck inside, and many tragedies do happen when risky steps are taken for rescue. Maintenance of elevators and features like Automatic Rescue Devices (ADR) are expensive but worth it.
The key is to get involved with the community and ensure that safety precautions are in place.

4. The car is another safety hazard. Buying a safe rather than a fancy car, and practicing defensive driving (simple practices like zero honking, and not looking at the faces of other drivers creating can help a lot) is the beginning. A fire extinguisher and a hammer cum cutter (for windshield breaking and safety cutting in case of emergency) should also be an absolute must.

And yes, in case of an accident — don’t run away, go to the nearest Police Station.

5. Understanding the safety features available in public places. Yes, I too am not careful when the aircraft safety manual is explained to the passengers before the takeoff, and I need to improve.

But I had been pretty diligent in complying with features like seat belts in the car, seat belts in flight even when mid-air (a major air bump can break one’s neck if the seat belt is not on), life vest when on water, etc.

But there are situations when one is helpless. Like when I was going from Jorhat to Majuli in Assam on a steamer, and found there were only a handful of life jackets and tubes for over 100 passengers. I thought at least I would write to the Inland Waterways Department drawing their attention, but I did not. And few years down the line, tragedy struck one of these steamers and few lives were lost in the Brahmaputra.

6. Fire continues to be a major safety issue, and we continue to think it will not affect us. Reality is in the case of a fire, the window to get out is a couple of minutes, so prevention is a far better option. And more often than not, violations are driven by ignorance rather than intent — like covering the sprinklers with a false ceiling so that the room looks good.

In a public place like a mall or office, it is good to know where the exit is. Many times they are not obvious. In the case of hotels, especially the low-star ones, it is a good idea to stay close exit staircase, and some rooms more often than not will have fire safety violations.

And in case we find any gap, ask the management to fix it. If inconvenient, at least a Tweet to the Fire Department will be a good beginning.

7. Safety is an evolving space, and there are a lot of learnings if we look around us.

I once heard the late Professor Dinesh Mohan, who explained how a baby held by a front seat passenger of a car will be thrown forward in case of an accident and will become a virtual airbag for the person who was holding the kid.

I also came across how slow drive is no guarantee of safety in case of a collision, as what matters in the declaration in the case of a head-on collision. So wearing a seat belt is a must under all circumstances.

8. As the Japan incident has shown, all the theories will not be enough in case of a disaster, what will matter will be the muscle memory or unconditioned reflex. And this will happen by practicing the safety drill again and again.

In our personal life, safety precautions should be the second habit. Like refilling the fire extinguisher before the expiry, or using the seat belt when in a car. It is not easy, but practice only makes it a second nature.

We can’t change society at large, but for sure we are making progress. The country now has a very robust search and rescue system, we saw that in work at the Silkyara tunnel rescue.

We now need to move to prevention, so that tragedies don’t occur in the first place.

Yes, the system is compromised, so we always find the so-called authorities wake up only when a tragedy strikes and lives a lost. But it is a long battle, which we need to fight for our own sake.

Let us start by learning the safety norms, being vigilant to find aberrations, and seeking corrections whenever it is needed.

Sure enough, we will have a good safety culture around us.