PHOTO: REUTERS
"The window shade opening is a part of a long process to prepare the cabin for sudden (unexpected) emergencies", an Aviation Safety Officer, Saran Udayakumar, explains in Quora.
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It is the duty of flight attendants to prepare the aircraft for any contingencies. The cabin crew have only 90 seconds to evacuate all passengers in case of emergencies and the process of evacuation itself should not take more than 90 seconds, regardless of the size of the aircraft or the number of passengers.
Opening window shades makes this 90 second evacuation possible.
A former cabin crew, informs Emirates 24|7, "Raising window shades and adjusting cabin lights ensures that passengers' eyes are well-adjusted to the light outside."
“This means that if something goes wrong and people need to be evacuated quickly there will not be a sudden change in light contrast, which might lead to temporary blurred vision”, the credible team at Q&A site travel.stackexchange.com, points out.
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“It's the same thing on night flights: window shades are open and cabin lights are dimmed as it helps ground emergency personnel outside to see what's happening on the inside of the cabin if something goes wrong”, it adds.
According to them, it can also help passengers detect and report any untoward incidents right away. Looking outside the window can also help the crew see outside conditions and plan an evacuation accordingly, in case of an emergency.
Moreover, raising window shades also gives rescue personnel better visibility inside the craft.
In case of an emergency, cabin crew need to decide which side of the aircraft is safest to disembark from. Leaving the window shade up allows them to make a quick call.
This article originally appeared on Emirates 24/7.
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