A lot is being written yet again about how stupid passengers are who grab their hand luggage during an emergency evacuation. Well, yes, but only up to a point, in my view.
Despite the regular calls for people to be fined, then jailed, then hung, drawn and quartered for being so life-endangeringly dumb, can I ask that you consider a few things.
* I know PAX get the pre-flight safety briefing and some of them even read the card and look around for their nearest exit, bearing in mind it might be behind them. But they haven't ever actually been through this experience before. They haven't been through the mock but realistic 'OUT OUT OUT' evacuation drills that the crew have gone through. They have never been through anything like this before in their lives.
* And so - in a highly-stressed, totally unfamiliar situation - one which they have only seen in movies - their brain reacts weirdly. It tries to make sense of what's going on. It tries to re-establish some normality. "The plane has stopped, I must get my hand luggage."
* Perhaps the people sitting over the port-side wing, looking at the flames and smoke, thought to themselves, "Gosh, I really must get off this airplane just as tickity-boo as possible." (Or words to that effect which the moderators on this website won't allow.) But perhaps the passengers on the starboard side 20 rows back thought, "This is a bit weird. Oh well, grab the bag and go..."
* To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced about the argument that people think they need to get their passport or medication (how many people have medication with them on the flight? A lot fewer than try to take their hand luggage in an emergency, I suspect). But perhaps we can conclude that their are different motives for doing so - however weird, unacceptable or possibly understandable they may be.
So now, have a read of this: it's from an Airbus training document on "Unplanned Ground Evacuation" (as distinct from "Unplanned Airborne Evacuation"? Never mind - I digress).
It is important to note that during evacuations, especially when there is a possible life-threatening situation, passengers may react in many different ways, such as by:
• Panicking (screaming, crying, hysteria)
• Freezing up (not able to react)
• Not being aware that danger exists
• Pushing
• Exiting with carry-on baggage.
Carry-on Baggage
Many studies, such as the Safety Study conducted in 2000 by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and investigation reports document the fact that in some cases, it was necessary for the cabin crew to argue with passengers because passengers attempted to carry baggage to the exits during emergencies (in one case, the evacuating passenger tried to exit with his guitar!).
Carry-on baggage brought to the exits can cause blockages and congestion at the exit and in the aisles, and reduce the efficiency of the evacuation.
An Australian Transportation Safety Board (ATSB) report in 2001 reported that in an accident that occurred in 1999, some passengers were authorized to take baggage with them as they evacuated the aircraft. When the cabin crew attempted to enforce that passengers leave their carry-on baggage behind, the passenger flow from the exit became less orderly.
This example illustrates an important point: If the cabin crew gives the command to passengers to leave their carry-on baggage behind during the evacuation, this may be too late.
Therefore, the cabin crew should instruct passengers to leave their baggage at the beginning of the evacuation. Some examples of possible commands are:
• "Open seatbelts, leave everything"
• "Open seatbelts, no baggage".
The cabin crew can also include this information in the passenger pre-flight safety briefing in order to reinforce the message, i.e.: "If an emergency evacuation is necessary, leave all your belongings behind."
Have a look again at that first paragraph:
It is important to note that during evacuations, especially when there is a possible life-threatening situation,
passengers may react in many different ways, such as by:
•
Panicking (screaming, crying, hysteria)
•
Freezing up (not able to react)
•
Not being aware that danger exists
• Pushing
• Exiting with carry-on baggage.
So instead of automatically calling passengers idiots, it might be better to devote your energies to calling on your superiors and employers to press for industry research into how people react in stressful situations and how to anticipate that, plan for it and design airplanes around that fact. Locking the overhead lockers sounds like a great idea, but might just add another element of confusion and result in more people blocking the aisles. But we need some research.
Oh - and in that
Asiana crash, apparently, "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."