The ‘dangerous’ mistake passengers make that could prove deadly in a flight evacuation
AN EXPERT has spoken about a “really dangerous” mistake that people often make during plane evacuations that could prove to be deadly.
Passengers never want to be in a situation where their plane has to be evacuated, but if it happens, there are some mistakes it’s always best to avoid.
One of which is trying to bring luggage off the plane – any passengers who do that could put themselves and others’ lives at risk.
Following the recent evacuation of a burning Japan Airlines plane in Tokyo, Professor Ed Galea, director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich, highlighted this vital step.
He claimed that the passengers leaving their stuff behind on the plane was crucial to getting everybody out safely.
He told the BBC: “I don’t see a single passenger on the ground, in any of the videos I’ve seen, that has got their luggage with them.
“If people tried to take their cabin luggage, that’s really dangerous because they would slow down the evacuation.”
Everyone on board the plane in Japan was evacuated safely, suggesting that Ed’s advice is worth taking on board.
Tragically, five of six people in a smaller coastguard plane were killed in the incident, after it collided with the large passenger aircraft.
Ed isn’t the only person to advocate leaving luggage behind in an emergency either.
Sun Online Travel’s resident flight attendant included it in a list of safety tips that they claimed would make life easier in an emergency.
They said: “Your luggage isn’t as important as your life – always leave it behind in an emergency.
“You don’t need your laptop or your clothes as much as you think you do, so just get off the plane as quickly as you can.
“It not only slows you down, it slows down other people and prevents them from getting out of the plane as quickly as possible.
“How guilty would you feel if someone died because you held them up by getting your suitcase out of the overheads? It’s really just not worth it at all.”
The cabin crew member also said passengers should count the number of seats between them and their emergency exit when boarding the flight, in case they have to evacuate in the dark.
They said: “It’s a simple thing you can do – count the seats from the emergency exit to your chair when you’re getting on, in case there’s an emergency and you can’t see where you’re going.
“Knowing how many rows there are between you and the exit could really help in an incident like that.”
Passengers have also been warned that they should also keep shoes and socks on during flights in case there is an emergency.
Being barefoot could cause injury, while footwear lingering around the cabin could also trip up other passengers trying to escape.
Meanwhile, this is why you should never ignore the safety demonstration while on a flight.
And this is why you should always be careful about bringing your phone on planes.