Retrieving luggage before emergency evacuation
 

I can't believe I even wrote that.

Apparently many Asiana passengers collected their bags from the overhead bins (taking care in case the contents had shifted during the crash) before hitting the evacuation slides.

WTF????

One guy was even quoted as grabbing his bags AND THEN his child.

So--heaven forbid--you're on a flight that needs evacuating and folks around you are grabbing for their wheelies, which could cost you your life. What do you do?

I was dumbfounded, too. The comments on the article I read were incredible. One man said he would do the same thing because he had medication and a CPAP in his carry on luggage. I had a hard time comprehending that he thought those replaceable items were more important than the safety of another human.

TO be fair, MANY of the pax grabbed personal items because they had FALLEN OUT of the bins and were blocking the aisles, and the FA's were telling people to grab the bags.
As for a CPAP machine and medication - I believe the gentleman changed his comment to say he would NEED his meds but not necessarily his machine, but since they were in the same valise he'd likely grab that.
I hope it never happens again but I don't think any of us REALLY know what we'd be likely to do in that horrible situation so I am not going to judge.

Unbelievable hubris. And it abounds!

A lot of good the CPAP will do him if the delay makes him a dead man. Problem is, he's likely to cause the deaths of others.

I have a solution. Anyone toting luggage after evacuating gets 10 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.

All of you have to realize the majority of passengers were from mainland China. When many of them automatically unbuckle their seat belts and grab the bags the second the wheels touched the ground - and I am saying literally with no exaggeration - why would anyone be surprised of this?

Also, there is also a very general difference in how the Chinese see as possessions. Even here in Hong Kong, where I am sipping US$4 coffee, when you leave anything out of your direct sightline, or even just beyond your arms' reach, that thing is not yours anymore. Therefore, it is actual a reflex to grab your stuff.

rkkwan - Agree.

I've been on many of those flights in which this happens.

Too many flights from HK and Taiwan to count.

This confirms my paranoia about overhead bins. I always keep my passport and anything absolutely essential in my small "personal item" - like a large purse - under the seat in front of me. I started doing this after I had a camera bag stolen from an overhead bin on an international flight many years ago - probably while I was in the bathroom.

Newtome, that makes more sense, and is more acceptable,than people simply retrieving their stuff. I didn't see that in the article I read. Interesting cultural difference, rkk, I did not know that.

I mentioned this on the thread in the lounge but I will tell my story in this forum for anyone who missed it.

Back in 2004 I had to evacuate a 777 using the slides. The engine caught fire on take-off and the cabin filled with smoke. We quickly returned to IAH and did an emergency evacuation. The firemen put out the fire right after we landed but we did not know that until after we were off the plane. At the moment we were evacuating we still thought there was a fire on the plane, yet several people took the time to get their carry-on bags.

This was a flight from IAH to LGW and as best I recall there were no Chinese people on this flight, however I was shocked at how many people did take the time to reach into the overhead bins to get their stuff.

I can see rkkwan's point about the Chinese culture, but taking bags when evacuating an airplane is not unique to the Chinese.

gail on Jul 9, 13 at 8:15pm

This confirms my paranoia about overhead bins. I always keep my passport and anything absolutely essential in my small "personal item" - like a large purse - under the seat in front of me. I started doing this after I had a camera bag stolen from an overhead bin on an international flight many years ago - probably while I was in the bathroom.

To me, absolutely NOTHING is essential apart from my life. Passports can be replaced, medication can be replaced quickly but YOU can't.

Imagine how you would feel if your love ones perished as someone was stuffing around in the aisle getting their belongings from an overhead bin. Unimaginable.

<b>P_M's</b> comment shows the cross cultural hubris. Equality in reprehensible behavior--not sure if I should be relieved or depressed.

<b>Newtome,</b> your comments help put the evacuees toting bags in perspective. I can see picking up luggage to get it out of the way and then removing it with you. Maybe my faith in humankind has been a bit restored. Our previous posts were posted at the same time.

<i>"When many of them automatically unbuckle their seat belts and grab the bags the second the wheels touched the ground - and I am saying literally with no exaggeration - why would anyone be surprised of this?"</i>

I would be surprised because pausing to retrieve belongings during an evacuation increases the odds of yourself or others on the plane dying from smoke inhalation or from being burned alive. Even under duress, I would be surprised if calculating the cost/benefit risk/reward of grabbing bags turned out to favor things over lives.

I often take the memory cards out of my camera and keep them on my person in the very, very rare case of an evacuation where I couldn't take my things.

<b>Gail</b> I have worried about theft at times, but not only from the bin, also from my under my seat when I leave to use the bathroom. And I usually am alone with no seatmate to guard my stuff. Never had anything taken, though. I do wear my Bose headphones with me to the lav because those might be a tempting target.

Wishing the injured from that flight a speedy recovery. How terribly sad for the young girls heading off to camp who lost their lives. Just tragic.

As an international flight attendant-there are no words for those passengers. Kudos to the great job by the Asiana flight attendants!!!

Agree about how amazing it is that the flight attendants got so many people out in such a short time - saw the photo of one tiny FA carrying out a passenger on her back. Wondering what the pilots were doing during, after crashing the plane, to help.

<<<saw the photo of one tiny FA carrying out a passenger on her back. >>>

I read somewhere that that FA had a broken tailbone. The pilot crew may have (most likely) caused the accident but the cabin crew did a fantastic job of getting people out.


<<< Even under duress, I would be surprised if calculating the cost/benefit risk/reward of grabbing bags turned out to favor things over lives.>>>

The difference is that you're assuming that they calculated the risk/reward. Many of them were probably so sompletely stunned and shocked that they weren't thinking. Some grabbed stuff because they were purely functioning on automatic at that point and really weren't thinking, some grabbed stuff because it was in the way and some grabbed stuff because they just simply suck.

Grabbing your baggage stops evacuating/backing people up along with destroying the emergency slide as you are taking it with you down the slide.

If only over-head bins could be locked automatically when an emergency occurs!

As far as people stopping to grab their stuff when exiting the flaming airplane goes, I don't think this is unusual or only certain cultures. I recall watching a show about a plane that landed in a storm and slid off the runway. One of the women interviewed, who happened to be a typical American executive-type, mentioned her first thought was to retrieve the work laptop full of sensitive company information overhead. After trying for a bit to open the compartment, she said she suddenly realized the laptop was no where near as important as her life so she left it. I think we're all a bit conditioned to see after our things.

Locking automatically in certain situations wouldn't be the worst idea, actually. Not just to keep people from stopping to get their stuff, but also to help prevent stuff falling out in accidents. Could probably just lock them whenever the put on seat belts light is on. There must be some sort of reason this is bad, though, or surely they'd already have that?

Understand the keeping things with you impulse. On a group trip years ago a friend had their bag stolen from the overhead compartment. Luckily didn't contain anything terribly important, but it might have. I've always kept my money and passport on me. Looking at an international flight soon, and thinking of making myself a nice vest to hold my iPod and other valuables.

Ah,it isn't the overhead bins it is the passengers. I have been a flight attendant for 40 years with a major US airline and you wouldn't believe what people do and take in emergencies? I would love to share some of those stories but it would have to include a glass of wine :)!