Taking A Pet Overseas

If you decide to take your pet with you when you go abroad, check with the embassies of the destination countries as to specific requirements that must be met before a pet may be brought into the country. Many countries have strict health, quarantine, agriculture, wildlife, and customs requirements and prohibitions. The Department of State has compiled a list of foreign embassies and consulates but their contact information may also be found on the Country Specific Information for each country.

In a crisis in which chartered or military aircraft or ships are used to evacuate U.S. citizens from a danger area, pets will not normally be permitted on the carrier. The pet owner will need to make other arrangements to remove the pet from the area. (Service animals, such as guide dogs, are not considered pets and will be accommodated if possible.)

Copyright © 2013, U.S. Department of State

The Safest Seat on a Plane

Something you may not know about this past weekend’s airplane crash is that as Asiana flight 214 came in for a landing at San Francisco’s International Airport, the flight attendants were conducting what’s known as a 30 second review. A 30 second review is a silent review of emergency procedures anytime a flight attendant occupies his or her jumpseat. Flight attendants are trained to get passengers off of an aircraft within 90 seconds after the plane comes to a complete stop. Sara Nelson, Vice President of the Association of Flight Attendants, says in an evacuation every second counts, “That entire fuselage can burn up in 90 seconds so if you have wasted 10 or 15 seconds as everyone else is getting off the plane, you’re potentially putting a fourth of the airplane in jeopardy of losing their lives in that scenario. That’s how serious this is.”

I know you’ve heard it before: “Flying is one of the safest things you can do.” And this past weekend’s crash with 305 of the 307 passengers surviving helps to prove that. According to an article by Discovery.com, you have a one in 1.2 million chance of being involved in a plane crash. If you did happen to be on that one in 1.2 million flight, you have a 95.7 percent chance of surviving it. Amazing, right? Flight attendants go through approximately six weeks of initial training, depending on the airline and 90 percent of their training is based on the safety aspects of flying. Everything from emergency evacuations to emergency medical care is covered and there is yearly training to keep flight attendants up to date and refreshed.

Surviving a plane crash comes down to surviving the initial impact and getting out fast. With this in mind, what can you do to up the odds of survival and is there a “safer” place to sit on a flight?

Find out what the safest seat on a plane is here!