Smoke poured into the airplane cabin and activity came to a screeching halt. As the captain yelled 'Evacuate! Evacuate!' passengers did what comes naturally: They froze.

The 'emergency,' staged with theatrical smoke in a full-motion airline cabin simulator, was part of an unusual British Airways safety course. Sixteen travelers from some of the airline's top corporate customers and its advertisingagencypracticed jumping down evacuation slides, opening heavy airplane doors and scampering out smoke-filled crashed cabins. They also learned simple tips that could save lives.

'The ones who think about what they'd do are the ones who get out first,' said Geof Fearon, one of the BA instructors.

Statistically, a majority of accidents are survivable, but hesitation can kill or result in injury. An analysis of 283 accidents world-wide in which there were fatalities found that only 31% of passengers survived, according to a 2008 study by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority.

In the precious first moments after a crash, when experts say a half-second head start can get you to an aisle first, the most basic elements of human character are revealed. Some instincts help survival and others hinder escape. Some people are panicked into pushing, shoving and fighting. For many, the brain shuts down and they are slow to react. That's why practice and familiarity can help. Balking at the top of a three-story evacuation slide can lead to a push, sending you cart-wheeling down and resulting in broken ankles. Research shows even practicing with the seat belt latch can help quicken escape. On average, 6% of passengers in an evacuation get delayed by seat-belt struggles, the CAA study found.

When a 737 collided with another plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport in 1991, 10 passengers died of smoke inhalation queued up at an over-wing emergency exit. They had a difficult time opening the escape door, survivors said, and two got into a scuffle, slowing the evacuation.

On the US Airways Hudson River landing in 2009, only 10 of 150 passengers thought to grab a life jacket before evacuating, and only about half took a seat cushion for floatation, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's report. All survived.

British Airways started a one-day emergency safety course for passengers five years ago at the request of oil company BP, which has lots of employees flying around the world. Other companies, many of them energy concerns that send workers into undeveloped parts of the world, began sending groups of road warriors to the course.

It seems odd that an airline would want to train people to deal with catastrophe, but British Airways believes the course engenders customerloyalty and helps calm nervous fliers. The airline plans to open up the course, which costs about $210, to individual travelers next year, possibly letting passengers redeem frequent-flier miles to attend. About 11,000 people have gone through the class so far.

'We teach people to react faster than anyone else so they are in the aisle first and down the slide first,' said Andy Clubb, a British Airways flight-attendant trainer who conceived of and runs the passenger course.

But it's not simply survival of the fittest. Other passengers seeing someone react positively will quickly follow, and the prepared passengers become leaders, making the entire evacuation faster.

The primary lesson: Spend two minutes before takeoff formulating your own emergency plan so you will be prepared and instead of freezing or panicking. Count how many rows you are from exits, in front and behind you, so you'll know when you reach an exit if you are crawling blindly on a floor underneath layers of smoke.

The course, held in BA's crew-training facility at London's Heathrow Airport, rotates participants through drills in different cabin mockups. In one simulated emergency, participants listened to standard pre-takeoff briefings and, like typical travelers, ignored the safety briefing from flight attendants. As the simulator mimicked takeoff, smoke poured into the cabin.

Flight attendants began yelling for passengers to undo seat belts and then come toward them. They did, even if they were sitting next to an over-wing door.

Over-wing doors are passenger-operated. No one tells you to open them. 'I try to get the exit row for the extra legroom, but I'd be reluctant to open that door unless I was told. This opened my eyes to that one,' said Aiden Whitty, a travel booker for Thomson Reuters, a media company.

Smoke training was the most important exercise. In a smoke chamber heated to simulate real conditions, participants stood up in a cabin filling with smoke and realized how quickly they became disoriented. The more they moved around, the more the smoke distributed through the cabin -- like stirring a pot. Drop down low and get out fast.

'It is possibly one of the most frightening things you will ever experience,' said Sue Thorne, another of the British Airways flight-training staff.

Mr. Clubb said statistically, seats within five rows of an exit are the most survivable. One study of four accidents involving 737 and DC-9 aircraft found the mean travel distance for survivors was 2.89 seat rows. The distance to the nearest exit for fatalities was 5.31 seat rows, according to the U.K. aviation authority. Also, aisle seats have historically had more survivors than other seats.

When the class practicedopeningemergency-exit doors, participants were surprised at how heavy the things were -- about 40 pounds for a 737 over-wing door -- and hard to maneuver.

'I'm one of those people who doesn't look at the safety briefing card. I can't think of the number of times I've sat in the emergency exit row and never considered the responsibility,' said Paula Wilson, who works for a financial consulting firm in London.

---