There’s Been an Airplane Emergency. Here’s What Flight Attendants Do Next.

Key Facts

Visuals by Tegra Stone Nuess Text by Christine Chung April 15, 2024 Some air passengers may believe that the job of a flight attendant is all about ensuring the comfort of travelers — serving meals and refilling drinks — and keeping the peace 35,000 feet up in the air.
Alaska Airlines flight attendants put on oxygen masks during a training demonstration in a mock airplane cabin designed to resemble a Boeing 737-900.
We recently visited Alaska in Seattle to learn about flight attendant training, which includes exercises that simulated emergency landings, fire outbreaks and in-flight medical issues.
(Sometimes they’ll ask if there’s a doctor on board.) Flight attendants brief the pilots, and the captain decides whether to divert the flight to a nearby airport.