And why do flight attendants enfore this like it’s life or death?
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If there’s any sort of emergency, people need to be able to get out of their seats and evacuate safely. It’s easiest to get out of your seat and move around if needed if the seat in front of you And in the event of a rough landing or a crash, when the seats are upright and locked in, they’re at their most stable, most able to protect the passengers who are braced, and least likely to cause further injury.
So 99.99% of the time it’s not life or death, but once in a long while, it might actually make the difference. These sorts of regulations are written in blood, so flight attendants take it seriously for the one time it might be very important.
In case of emergencies, it’s faster to evacuate the plane when everyone’s seat is upright.
Imagine if you are the person sitting at the window seat, and the seats next to you are reclined all the way down. It will slow you down from evacuating.
Most fatal airplane crashes occur during take off or landing. The first 90 seconds after a crash are vital as well. That is the average time it takes before the chances of survival plummet due to the spread of smoke or flames.
If you’ve ever tried to get out of your seat when the row in front of you is tilted back you know it can be challenging. Imagine doing that after being concussed and in a panic. So the seats need to be up to ensure rapid easy evacuation in under 90 seconds after a crash landing.
> And why do flight attendants enforce this like it’s life or death?
Aviation is as safe as it is because (1) it’s very heavily regulated; (2) those regulations are followed.
In the event of an emergency that warrants evacuation off the plane, you want to get out ASAP.
When they say “leave everything behind and don’t block exits”, they mean it. If the plane’s on fire, a few extra seconds in an evacuation could mean additional lives lost.