Reply to Glendaleloon
Good evening Glen.
I see your response was specifically about big American cities. What about the rest of the world?
1. Jakarta. I have colleagues who were burnt alive on a drilling rig in the Java Sea. Helicopter casevac to Jakarta without grab bag. Response by Indonesian immigration " no passport, no bags, no cash - no exit " . The captain of a KLM DC8 overheard the incident on radio. He held his aircraft at Kemayoran (as was) and went to the Indonesian immigration authorities to demand that he could casevac to Singapore. After several hours delay and intervention of KLM in Amsterdam and British Embassy in Jakarta, the casualties were allowed to leave for the burns unit in SIN
2. Nigeria/ Iraq/ . Try walking away from an aircraft incident without ID or handbag. Try getting prescription medication there.
Most people will take the risk/reward view and take a grab bag to be safe in person in an orderly evacuation. When has that ever resulted in a fatality on evacuation to your knowledge?