eyejab.com [S]He who prepares wins

There's not much you can do once your comfortably seated on an aircraft, except to sit and wait 'till you safely reach your destination. However, there are a couple of things you can do that will increase your safety in general when traveling by plane and your chances of survival in an emergency situation; here are a couple of suggestions:

• Plan to check-in and proceed through customs immediately when arriving at the airport. Once you have past through all that security you are less likely to be the victim of a stray bomb or mad gunman.
• Feeling nervous? Keep an eye on the crew. They are highly trained and fly thousands of hours each year. Bumpy rides, turbulance, and damn near misses are part of their job description. If they look worried, tighten your seatbelt! Otherwise, try to relax and enjoy the ride and all the quirks of air travel. Safety in flying is well proven and time tested.
• Baggage falling from overhead lockers is one of the biggest single causes of passenger injuries today on airlines, be aware both when exiting the plane and in case you are seated in an aisle seat.
• Take off and landing are the most risky times during a flight, keep your seatbelt securely fastened during these times, and try to always wear your seatbelt throughout the flight.
• Always listen to the safety briefing, pay particular attention to the location of emergency exits. Count the number of seats to the exit door so that you could find it in the dark if you had to. Make sure you understand how to open the doors in an emergency.
• Check the location of your life jacket and understand how to use it. In the event of an emergency, DO NOT inflate it until you are outside of the aircraft.
• In case the oxygen masks are dropped, always sort yourself out first, even before your child. If you fall unconcious you will not be able to help anyone else.

As always, the rule is "don't panic!" In the event of an emergency you will stand a far better chance of survival if you keep your cool and have already pre-planned your exit or survival strategy.

Here are some useful links regarding general airline and airport safety:

http://www.faa.gov/safety/
http://www.airsafe.com