When should cabin crew don a breathing protection device?

• A. If smoke or fire is present and breathing becomes compromised, or when instructed by the PIC.
• B. Only after landing.
• C. Never; breathing protection is not required.
• D. Only during galley fires.

Answer: (D)

Breathing protection devices are used to guard your breathing when smoke or fumes are present, so you can continue your duties without being overwhelmed. In this scenario the focus is on galley fires. A galley fire can fill the cabin with dense smoke very quickly, and having the breathing protection device ready allows crew to operate—extinguishing, coordinating evacuation, and helping passengers—without the smoke making those tasks unsafe. The PIC can also instruct you to don the device, but the key point here is that galley fires create a situation where rapid protection of breathing is essential to maintain safety and continue essential actions. The other options don’t align with this scenario: they imply donning is needed only later, never, or outside the galley, which doesn’t match the test’s emphasis on galley fires as the trigger for using breathing protection.