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A life vest is cheaper than a psychologist

Do you know those life vest demos you get every time you go on a plane? Why do they have life vests on large planes in the first place?

Yes, theoretically your 747 can ditch on water and you can calmly exit the plane following the lighting on the floor and inflate your life vest. But historically, it seems as likely as mid air rescues…

I’m wondering: overall, have life vest saved more lives than the lives lost due to the small extra weight?

The first reason I could think of was that the airline industry inherited some concept (such as the “captain”) from the boating industry, and they decided to keep the life vests just in case the plane crushes into an iceberg.

But I think that airlines simply decided that life vests make people feel safe: passengers might think that they could survive the fall to worry about drowning . And they are cheaper than having a therapist on each plane. They are probably even cheaper than putting some in your drink.

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