Know why window shades must be kept open during flight landing and take off

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Whenever you are flying, apart from the regular safety measure announcements, the flight steward makes this announcement every time the flight is landing or taking off.

Wondered why the flight attendant makes the window shades announcement every time during flight landing and take off?

This question has been asked and responded to in several Q&A websites. However, Aviation safety officer Saran Udayakumar's explanation has had the most number of hits ever since he responded on a question-and-answer website Quora.

He explains that the window shade opening is considered to be critical times in aviation and "a part of a long process to prepare the cabin for sudden unexpected emergencies."

He further explains that windows shades must be kept open “because cabin crew have only 90 seconds to evacuate all passengers in case of emergencies.”

So incase something goes wrong, noting that each and every second counts, the cabin crew is prepared to deal with the situation.