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My grandson Henry takes a drink of water while riding on my lap on a commercial flight. While he would be a little safer during turbulence buckled into a seat, even on my lap he’s 50- 100 times safer than he would be riding in a car buckled into a car seat.
This blog entry is provided for reference in future discussions, and provides an interesting and little-known explanation about why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows a child under age two to ride on an adult’s lap. This FAA policy has saved the lives of hundreds of precious babies who would have crashed in cars, and prevented horrific injuries to hundreds more. I’m sharing this information here because it is an excellent example of a complete, holistic safety analysis that has protected the most vulnerable in our society. It’s also an example of two brilliant safety agencies both claiming the scientific high ground on an issue, where only one can rightfully claim it. The FAA, which arguably sets the highest standard for safety of any agency anywhere, has been battling the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and consumer groups over this for decades. The NTSB points out that parents can’t hold onto a child in high force conditions like a crash, or in heavy unexpected turbulence. And they have data showing 298 passengers were injured by turbulence from 1980-2008, a rate of 10 injuries per year, although this is a total of all injuries and its not clear if any were babies.
Why the FAA allows lap children:
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