Viral TikTok Video Gives TERRIBLE Advice About Airline Seatbelts

This is some of the worst advice in recent memory.

Another travel “hack” has come out of TikTok, and this time it’s dangerously in contravention to the instructions given by airline crewmembers. 

The “hack” advises passengers who want to sleep to fasten their seatbelt around their ankles to stabilize their position if they want to sleep in an economy seat. Not surprisingly, the hack drew a cacophony of dissenting voices from flight attendants, trade associations, and airlines.

While everyone wants to find ways to be more comfortable on the plane, this is some of the worst advice in recent memory. Seatbelts should be worn low and tight across the hips, even when the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign is not illuminated, from when an aircraft leaves the departure gate, until it parks at the arrival gate. 

The reason for this is similar to why drivers and passengers should wear seatbelts in automobiles: Because hazards are often unforeseen, and sudden stops or movements that can cause bodily injury or death are possible. In aircraft, there’s also more than just the threat of a crash—turbulence can also be a significant hazard, and certain types of turbulence happen entirely without warning. Passengers who aren’t wearing a seatbelt correctly can and have been seriously injured in these situations. 

In the United States, the use of seatbelts on commercial flights is governed by federal laws. These laws require flight attendants to enforce seat belt use whenever the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign is illuminated by the flight crew. Failure to do so on the part of the flight attendant can result in fines or license suspension. Failure of passengers to follow crewmember instructions, or ignoring seatbelt signs is a civil offense, and can result in fines of up to $10,000. Fines for failing to follow crewmember instructions can be even higher—up to $13,910. 

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Turbulence is common on commercial flights, and turbulence that is so severe it causes onboard injuries isn’t unheard of—in fact, there are dozens of incidents each year where passengers or crew are injured because of unforeseen turbulence. In most of these cases, the injured passengers or crew aren’t wearing seatbelts. While crewmembers are trained on how to safely move about the aircraft when the seatbelt signs are on (and they haven’t been advised by the pilots to take their seats), passengers aren’t, and should always have their seatbelts on while seated in case of sudden cabin movement. 

It’s worth noting that passenger seatbelts are lifesavers in catastrophic events on aircraft. Passengers were all belted in onboard a Boeing 737 that experienced rapid decompression over Hawaii in 1988, and on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 that experienced a similar decompression over Portland in January. In those incidents, passenger injuries could have been more severe, or the incidents could have resulted in a higher count of passenger fatalities had more passengers failed to wear their seatbelts correctly. 

Asiana Flight 214, which crashed on approach to San Francisco International Airport in July, 2013, remarkably counted only three fatalities. Two of the fatalities were recalled in witness statements as not having been wearing seatbelts at the time of the impact, and both passengers were found to have been ejected from the aircraft. 

This isn’t the first time a viral TikTok airline “hack” has taken hold. Users of the platform have shared plenty of questionable tips, from altering code to fool airline systems into thinking certain baggage fees have already been paid to grilling steak in an aircraft toilet.

When it comes to safety onboard a commercial airline flight, there’s only one set of experts whose opinions matter: the flight crew, who are highly trained in all matters concerning onboard safety.