World's most experienced pilot reveals why you might not be told to 'brace' during a plane crash
People love a good conspiracy theory, whether it's about 5G masts causing Covid or JFK's assassination.
One of the most popular going around, though, concerns the purpose of the brace position.
Every since we were young, going on our first trip abroad, we've been told that if a plane is going down, you need to lean forward, put your head between your legs and pray.
Now, there are many rumours and conspiracies surrounding the exact reason for the pose, with one particularly popular theory suggesting that it is designed to give passengers a quick death in the event of a crash. A cheery thought.
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So, who better to speak to about this particularly bleak, yet popular, theory, than Nick Eades, the world’s most experienced Boeing 747 pilot, who explained to us exactly why the brace position is used.
"What you're trying to do is to stop people breaking their necks in a big impact,” Eades told LADbible.
"You're just trying to get the body into a position that's going to suffer the least damage. It's like whiplash - you're trying to avoid that sudden movement of the head, which can result in serious injury, if not death.”
However, Eades explained that cabin crew are actually no longer telling passengers to 'brace' should it all go wrong mid-flight.
Facing the 'most stressful position they'll ever be in in their lives', Eades says it is unrealistic to expect passengers to remain calm and remember what the brace manoeuvre is - something he has first-hand experience of.
"I've had a couple where we had problems with the landing gear, and the cabin crew shouted to all the passengers, 'Brace, brace!" he recalled.
"It took a long time for the aviation world to realise if you're suddenly thrown into an emergency situation and people start shouting 'brace' at you, you might think, 'what the hell do they mean?'"
Understandably, this situation can be even more confusing for those who are not native English speakers.
Eades said: "At least half - probably three-quarters - of passengers on the aeroplane don't speak English as a first language."
In a bid make an unenviable (to say the least) set of circumstances slightly more palatable, cabin crew will be replacing the brace command with simpler terminology.
According to Eades, you can expect to hear 'heads down, hands over your head' should you ever find yourself in such a position.
Although, fingers crossed that never happens!
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