Sky Ventures: Flying The Friendly Skies Safely With Baby

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By Mia Bolaris-Forget

We're all aware of the safety precautions that are necessary when traveling with infants and young children by car....but few know or are aware of any similar guidelines when flying to a family friendly destination.

Well, that may all soon change.

Those in charge of the nation's transportation are taking measures to help insure that little ones are just as safe in the air as they are on the ground...and they're asking parents to voluntarily strap their infants into safety -seats on planes.

While there is yet no government mandate, The National Transportation safety Board has diligently looked into how this affect and benefit tiny travelers and they reveal that strapping infants in will help prevent them possible being flung through the air, possibly with tragic consequences which can result in certain instances where babies are simply sitting on mom or dad's lap.

The agency feels so strongly about its recommendation that they are holding a one-day forum on the importance of child safety restraints in aircraft carriers and motor vehicles.

The agency points out that while parents are currently allowed to hold babies on their lap and strap them in with their own seatbelt, it becomes a dangerous scenario in case of incident making it difficult, if not impossible for the parent to hold onto the child in such circumstances, turning a 20 pound child into the equivalent of a 100 pound missile.

And, The Federal Aviation Administration agrees, noting that infants and young children should be strapped in , in a safety-seat of their own.

However, the FAA concluded back in 2004 that it would not make families purchase an extra seat for babies since the added cost would shift travel onto more dangerous highways and therefore result in more fatalities than it would prevent.

The President of the Association of Flight Attendants union on the other hand stresses not only the need for safety seats but also the need for more to be done to promote them and to train people on how to properly and effectively use them.

Airlines strongly encourage passengers to use the safety seats and have urged the FAA to make them mandatory.

Long Island Safety Articles > Sky Ventures: Flying The Friendly Skies Safely With Baby