Clue32

I'm taking my daughter, just over one year old, on her first commercial airplane ride from Frankfurt to Denver and back. Even though she can fly for free in our laps we are going to buy her a seat. I was wondering if there are any restrictions on bringing car seats onboard airliners and strapping them onto the airline seat so the children can fly safe and secure (Flying Delta mainline the entire route for company specific policies).

I recall watching documentaries on the Souix City crash and the lead flight attendant was haunted by memories of small kids being held in the laps of their parents because there was not and still isn't a rule mandating that infants are belted in. Those children, and I'm sure hundereds before and hundereds after lost their lives in a survivable crash sequence because their parents didn't stand a chance against gravity at restraining them. While I was in college at the time and well before having my own family I vowed to always have my children in a seat on an airplane.

Bloodhound

Some car seats are FAA approved. I'm not sure if that means they are tested to some standard or if only approved seats are allowed. I've never seen any FA's check, though. FWIW.

georgetg

the sticker on the seat will say if the seat is approved for use in aircraft...

BTW, once she gets older here is a cool seatbelt setup called CARES it's FAA approved and made by the same company that make the normal pax seatbelts...

Cheers
George

SmoothOnTop

You are a smart parent.

Do the crew a favor though:

Don't over tighten the seat belt.

I witnessed flight delays because of belt over-tightening and passenger seats that were rendered inoperative by crews that didn't know any better*.

*disclaimer - I have not done this and I am unaware of anything like this ever happening during my 121 career:

Problem - airline seat belt latch trapped under infant/child seat.

Solution - on one side

remove cotter pin where belt attaches to airline seat frame

remove belt

remove infant/child seat

replace airline belt

replace cotter pin

check secure

tell the f/a's "Betty, you didn't see anything."

Go fly!!

Clue32

Thanks for all the great replies. I checked the car seat and one of the lables does say that it is aircraft approved. We're going to get the CARES system also, fantastic idea.

Pilotpip

If the label says it's aircraft approved you're good to go. The flight attendants will likely check for that so remembering where it is will help.

Thanks for being a good dad. I'd never put the safety of my child behind the price of a ticket.

markf64

I speak from experience...DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the seat belt because of where the latch is located. I had bruised knuckles most of my vacation because of this. I did not know the information shared by Smooth at the time, if true check to confirm you can reach the pin before tightening the belt.

I also brought my laptop, little headset, and some of my kids favorite videos.

Good luck

10seatsbucksmos

Two questions for smooth:

1) Is your screen name an atmospheric condition, are you follically challenged or is this some kind of intimate description?

2) Shouldn't we let an FAA certificated a&P mechanic remove and replace an airliner seat belt?

SmoothOnTop

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