As summer vacations approach, the National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) is stressing the importance of child restraint seats on all airline flights.
For most parents, strapping the kids into their safety seats in the back of the car is just a habit. But when it comes to airline travel, I see many car seats come off the luggage carousel as checked baggage.
What the NTSB would rather see is those seats put to use as child restraint seats inside the aircraft. A child sitting on your lap is in much greater danger in the event of strong turbulence or a survivable crash than if they were restrained. The NTSB also notes that during survivable crashes, unrestrained children have become separated from their parents and therefore not evacuated at the same time as their parents.
Yes, it is more expensive to buy that extra seat so your child can be restrainted in the child’s seat, but it is the safest way for them to travel by air.
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3 Comments
Al Dente
FAA Launches Formal Investigation into 4 Major Airlines - Questions Linger over use of Baboons for Maintenance - an SPN Headlines Exclusive at:
http://spnheadlines.blogspot.com/2010/02/faa-launches-formal-investigation-into_13.html
Keep smiling! :-)
Louise Stoll
The NTSB is absolutely right! Lap kids, and small kids who travel in planes with only the lap belt, are not in safe seats. They are too small to brace in case of turbulence or rough landings. But what is new since the NTSB last listed this alert several years ago, is the existance of the new, 1 pound,FAA certified CARES child aviation restraint, which means parents have the choice of hauling a 15-20 lb bulky car seat for their kids....or the new, FAA certified, 1 pound, belt and buckle, CARES child aviation restraint,to keep the little ones secure in planes.CARES is manufactured by Amsafe Aviation, the company that makes nearly all the airplane seat belts in the world.So keeping kids safe in planes has been made easy - CARES fits in a pocket or purse, installs in a minute on any seat in the airplane row and keeps the kids as safe as a car seat!
Sandy Grinnell
Louise,
Thank you for the comment on the CARES safety seat. What a great idea. Do you have a link to their website?
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