The Federal Aviation Administration is directing airlines to re-examine evacuation procedures after several recent incidents in which passengers exited aircraft with carry-on luggage, NBC News reported Friday. The FAA said the updated recommendations cover crew training, passenger announcements and commands during emergency situations.
“Passengers have taken their carry-on items with them on a number of recent evacuations,” the FAA told NBC. “This slows the evacuation and puts lives at risk.”
The agency said airlines should ensure safety briefings clearly instruct travelers to leave all bags behind. Among the recent events prompting the action were evacuations in Denver and Orlando, where aircraft engine or landing gear issues led passengers to use emergency slides.
The FAA added that airlines should leverage safety management systems to review their current procedures and address hazards. Plans to release updated recommendations follow a recent request from U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, for FAA data on evacuation safety. The senator raised questions about the effectiveness of the FAA’s 90 second evacuation standard and suggested updates may be necessary.
FAA needs to take some responsibility here. These passengers are disobeying crew instructions and putting lives at risk, and need to be prosecuted. Even a slap on the wrist for these people would be enough to change the behavior at large I imagine.
The airlines can also take action here by banning all these passengers caught carrying a bag off.
Clearly the existing announcements and warnings are not working.
People do this because they don’t know how long their stuff will be held hostage or where it will go, or whether it will be searched/picked over. Getting possessions back to owners needs to be a priority once any situation is under control. A mandated 24 hour return policy would help. Also agree passengers need some noncompliance penalty as well, but we need both.