When the plane had crash-landed in Toronto Pearson International Airport, a flight attendant was seen standing on what had once been the ceiling, with one leg resting on an overturned baggage compartment. “Drop everything! Drop it. Come on,” A flight attendant on scene, addressing passengers who’d unbuckled themselves from upside-down seats. She spoke calmly, and composed, whilst she guides people to leave through an open exit door providing instructions for the passengers, telling them to put their phones away, and get out of the situation as fast as possible. The pair of flight attendants did an outstanding job, helping the dozens of passengers evacuate from the overturned aircraft. Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants–CWA, commemorated their work. Nelson stated that “They performed their work perfectly as aviation’s first responders,” “This is the reason that we are on the plane: to evacuate passengers from a crash landing like this safely,” stated Nelson “And they did that.”

“They are responsible for much more than picking up trash and serving sodas,” – A strong statement from Michael McCormick, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, emphasising the importance of flight attendants that is so often overlooked. Flight attendants undergo intense training, specifically for life-threatening situations like these. According to Nelson, the training is aircraft type specific, covering various scenarios, including evacuations by both land and water, even scenarios where you find yourself upside down. 

They are instructed to first locate the emergency exits and assess the safety of the scene, and then instruct passengers t stay seated or stand back, and finally, direct them to release seatbelts and head for the exit, whether an emergency door or a hole in the plane. As the passengers evacuate, attendants ask the first able bodied individuals to assist outside. Often, these actions need to be carried out by a small group of flight attendants in under 90 seconds, as seen during the Delta crash in Toronto. These quick decisive actions become second nature in moments of crisis.