Air passengers are increasingly putting lives at risk by filming emergencies and retrieving bags instead of evacuating planes, industry experts have said, with some suggesting fines could be needed.
Passenger aircraft are designed to be fully evacuated in 90 seconds in an emergency – but people reaching for hand luggage can significantly increase that time, blocking exits and aisles as well as damaging slides or causing injury.
The global airlines body Iata has launched a safety campaign urging customers to “save a life, not a bag”after a number of evacuations filmed by passengers have appeared on social media, some showing people carrying luggage from burning planes.
Nick Careen, the Iata senior vice-president for operations and security, said the first priority was to educate passengers that it was “most important to leave hand baggage behind. We need to drive the message home.”
