You’re not just paying for service with a smile when it comes to airline cabin crew. It’s hard to remember this sometimes when they’re pouring your champagne but flight attendants are the most important safety feature on your plane. They undergo rigorous training to comply with the industry standards. The International Civil Aviation Organisation sets the standard globally and requires crew to annually demonstrate the ability to fight fires and perform CPR, along with other life-saving duties. During a crisis at 40,000ft, you’ll look to the cabin crew, so with this in mind, here’s a list of ten extreme examples of crew doing exactly what they are paid for.

1.The Ditching

Captain Chesley Sullenberger of US Airways flight 1549 has been, deservedly, praised for his zero-fatality ditching in the Hudson, but what about the cabin crew that got everyone out safely? Flight attendant Doreen Welsh had to battle flooding to get people in her section out. Thinking quickly Welsh instructed passengers to jump over seats to make their way to the forward of the aircraft. Doreen was so focused on saving her passengers that she failed to notice a large cut on her leg until she escaped herself. "The people most responsible for ensuring that those people got out were those three flight attendants," said Douglas Parker, the airline's chairman.

2.The Crash

During last year’s San Francisco crash landing, the flight attendants of the Asiana Boeing 777 flight showed extraordinary bravery and dedication. For example they ran through the burning aircraft with knives to cut passengers free from their seat belts. Similarly, cabin manager Lee Yoon-Hye freed fellow crewmembers who were trapped by incorrectly deployed slide/rafts, despite having a broken tailbone.

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