Flight 292 and the Issue of Live In-Flight Television.

Flight 292 and the Issue of Live In-Flight Television

By Dr. Todd Curtis

Flying on a modern jetliner is usually filled with routine rather than excitement. For most passengers, part of that routine includes limited in flight entertainment. One notable exception is JetBlue, where each passenger has a seatback video unit that can display from among dozens of satellite television channels. This passenger video entertainment provides a welcome news and entertainment option for their passengers. However, last month this video system was far from entertaining for the passengers on one JetBlue flight, and as a result has started a debate over whether there should be restrictions in how these systems may be used.

Flight 292 is a regular nonstop between Burbank, CA and New York's JFK airport. Shortly after takeoff on September 21st, the crew became aware of a problem with the nose landing gear. The tires on the nose gear were turned almost sideways from their normal position. As a result, the crew decided to leave the gear extended and to divert the flight to Los Angeles. A landing with this kind of problem does not expose the passengers or crew to a high risk of injury and represents an emergency where the flight crew, cabin crew, and emergency personnel at the airport have ample time, almost three hours in this case, to assess the situation and to follow the appropriate emergency procedures. The landing was spectacular, with the cameras clearly showing a shower of sparks from the collapsing landing gear as the aircraft safely came to stop. The passengers and crew all escaped without injury.

While the landing was spectacular but otherwise routine, several things about this event made the public's response anything but routine. For one, the flight was a local story for both Los Angeles and New York, almost guaranteeing extensive local news coverage whatever the outcome. More importantly, the event occurred late in the afternoon in relatively clear skies, allowing live television coverage of the jet and a potentially large audience across the U.S. That potential was realized as CNN and several other national television networks interrupted normal programming to provide live coverage of the event.

The most captive audience for this broadcasts were the 140 passengers on Flight 292, many of whom took the opportunity to watch some of the live broadcast of their flight, including close up pictures of the damaged landing gear (but not pictures of the spectacular landing). To say that seeing this on their seatback televisions was stressful would be a bit of an understatement. One of the passengers was actress Taryn Manning (8 Mile, Hustle & Flow), later remarked that seeing her plane as 'breaking news' on television was "the most surreal, out-of-body experiences I ever had."

JetBlue is not the only airline that provides live television to its passengers. It is however the first airline to face the issue of whether it is appropriate to allow passengers to view their own aircraft emergency on live television. In this particular case, the television was available to passengers until shortly before landing, which would have been the case even in a normal flight. There was apparently no effort on the part of the cabin crew or flight crew to censor the broadcast or to suggest that passenger not watch television. Unlike in flight movies and other prerecorded entertainment, airlines have the opportunity to choose what content is shown. With live television, there is no opportunity to prescreen content, so it is almost certainty that there will be future events where passengers may see live pictures of an airline emergency involving some other plane or possibly even involving their own. Given the popularity of in flight live television, it is unlikely that this technology will become more common in the future. It is much more likely that in flight television will also be joined by in flight Internet access. At that point, the potential for passengers to receive information in real time about airline related events will be much greater than today.

The JetBlue experience has led some in the airline industry to rethink their passenger entertainment policy. Frontier Airlines, which like JetBlue also has in flight satellite television, has reportedly considered a change of policy that calls for turning off the service during in-flight emergencies. This may seem to be a prudent reaction in the wake of JetBlue's experience, but it is a reaction that misses some key points about the JetBlue event. This was a rare situation where major television news organizations were willing to offer continuous live coverage of an ongoing event, where the emergency itself occurred over a relatively long period of time, and where the aircraft's passenger entertainment system remained fully operational. This is in sharp contrast to most aircraft emergencies where the situation is resolved one way or another before news organizations have a chance break into their programming.

Future Flight 292 type media events will likely involve relatively minor emergencies that do not have to be resolved immediately. This observation is based on data collected over the years by AirSafe.com. There have been few instances where a serious emergency was know to exist and where there was a relatively long period of time between the onset of the emergency and the end of the flight. One noteworthy case where CNN and other media outlets provided breaking news of an impending crash while the aircraft was still flying was in the summer of 1989. In that event, a United DC-10 lost all hydraulic systems after an uncontained engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa. Unlike the JetBlue event, which was known by the media hours before landing, this event became a breaking news story only a few minutes before the aircraft crashed. Given the state of that airplane and the extensive preparations for landing by the flight crew and cabin crew, it is unlikely that passengers would have had the opportunity to watch their emergency television even if the technology had been available at that time.

Having passengers in a position to watch their own emergency unfold on television will likely remain a very rare event. Rather than become concerned about making rules or policy changes that are unlikely to be relevant in the near future, passengers and airline management would be better served by exercising common sense when it comes to the use of passenger entertainment systems. Whether it be a laptop playing a movie or a live program on the seatback television, the following guidelines should work most of the time for television broadcasts:

If it upsets you, either turn it off or choose a less upsetting option.

If it is upsetting to someone seated near you, turn it off or turn to an option that will not upset that person.

If you think it may be upsetting to someone else, either watch something else or take steps to ensure that the other person will not see what you are watching.

If someone in your vicinity is watching something that is upsetting to you, ask that person to turn to something else.

If necessary, contact a cabin crew member to help resolve the situation.

Dr. Todd Curtis is president of the AirSafe.com Foundation and creator of the web site AirSafe.com. Todd Curtis conducted research in several areas of aviation risk assessment and accident prevention. Author of the book Understanding Aviation Safety Data as well as a number of articles on Web site planning and airline safety. Licensed private pilot.