The flight attendants aboard that crashed Asiana plane saved many lives, thanks to their emergency training. Some flight attendants learn those live-saving procedures right here in Southern California.
"We have to learn from this, because there aren't that many crashes," according to instructor, Lindy Holt.
Holt says that is the good news. She has been a flight attendant on Boeing 777 planes for a decade. That is the type of plane that crashed in San Francisco. Holt says the people who work in the back of the aircraft are the eyes and ears of the cockpit crew.
"This is a very, very long aircraft," Holt said. "We hear things in the back, or in the middle, that the pilot's don't hear."
There would be eight flight attendants on board, according to Holt. All of them would be facing backwards, towards the passengers during take-off and landing. Two would be near the tail, facing forward.
"The sounds and the volume that they must have heard and lived through were probably just mind blowing," Holt said.
Flight attendants are actually preparing for a crash on every take off and landing," according to Holt. They strap themselves into their jumpseats then go through a 30 second silent check list.
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"Where's my primary door," Holt said, go through the list. "Where's my secondary door? What if both are blocked? Where am I going to be sending people? What are my commands?"
She says only the pilot can call for an "easy victor" which is the code to prepare to deploy the chutes and slides. It's said three times and it means blow the slides and get them going.
Holt also teaches flight attendant classes at Orange Coast College. She says one third of her students are from Korea, that Asiana Airlines will ask her to recommend the best students. She teaches them that any disaster is bigger than a single person. She calls the fight attendants on board Saturday's crash heroes and hopes that passengers learn from this as well.
"Just listen to the flight attendants," Holt said. "They're so well trained."
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