This Is What Happens If You Try to Bring Your Carry-on With You During an Emergency Evacuation
There’s the age-old question: If your house was on fire, what would you grab first? Well, what about if you were in an emergency on a plane?
Airplane safety videos teach passengers to leave all their belongings inside and evacuate the plane. However, not all passengers comply with the rules.
Last month, an investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that passengers on a 2016 American Airlines flight endangered the evacuation when they tried to bring their carry-ons out of the plane and refused to listen to cabin crew instruction.
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During investigation interviews, one flight attendant told a story about a passenger “running up the aisle with a bag over his head.” When a crew member tried to get the bag away from him, the passenger allegedly yelled, “I’m taking it with me.”
The chairman of the NTSB told the Chicago Sun Times earlier this month that he was considering implementing a fine for passengers who attempt to bring their carry-ons out the plane with them. “I have thought about that,” Robert Sumwalt said in the interview. “People might be less inclined to worry about all their Gucci luggage.”
The investigation believes that some of the injuries during this incident were caused by passengers trying to bring their bags.
However, it’s the Federal Aviation Administration that will have the final call on whether or not fines are imposed. The administration has the power to issue criminal charges and fines of up to $250,000 for passengers who don’t follow cabin crew instructions.
The NTSB issued a safety recommendation earlier this month, urging the FAA to "conduct research to measure and evaluate the effects of carry-on baggage on passenger deplaning times and safety during an emergency evacuation and identify effective countermeasures to reduce any determined risks, and implement the countermeasures."
The FAA said that it will review and consider the NTSB’s recommendations.
