Page 23 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2015 Online Magazine

FEATURE EVACUATION

It is sobering to consider that it quite 777 catches fire. Some of the passengers for jackets and handbags with some even
often takes 40 minutes to board a plane fleeing the Triple Seven rescue their opening overhead lockers to salvage their
because of passenger/ baggage congestion. carry-on luggage, trundling across the carry-on luggage.
Not only does taking carry-on baggage tarmac to safety; Aviation regulations around the world
slow the evacuation process dramatically - March 5, 2015. Delta Airlines DL1086 require aircraft passengers to obey the
there is a real possibility that the bags with an MD-88 overuns at New York - La Guardia commands of crew in an emergency, and
metal parts extruding will snag and then Airport on landing in snow conditions. No not to recklessly endanger an aircraft.
deflate the slides – rendering them useless. serious injuries were reported among the Dragging your roll-aboard behind you in
In the frantic scramble to get often 125 passengers and 5 crew members but an evacuation breaks both these rules.
overstuffed bags out of bins, passengers passengers carried their baggage away As detailed in Flight Safety Australia’s
will also be knocked out. from the plane. 100 Foundations of Aviation Safety, in
Then there is the very real prospect While language may be a barrier in some the extremely rare event of a crash,
of the passengers jumping onto the slide cases in the British Airways incident at Las evacuating passengers safely is a critical
with the bag and knocking themselves out Vegas this would not have been the case. logistical challenge.
or another passenger. Responding to the accident Australia’s This was highlighted in a 1991 collision
Duty free alcohol is even more lethal aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Safety between a Boeing 737 and a Metroliner on
because if the bottle breaks there is Authority (CASA) issued a warning to the the runway of Los Angeles International
flammable liquid everywhere not to industry on the problem. Airport. Not one passenger on the 737
mention broken glass. In a concerning trend, airline died as a result of the collision. However,
And the passengers from British passengers are continuing to value their 20 passengers still perished from smoke
Airways flight BA2276 are not alone. luggage over their own personal safety inhalation and burns, with half dying in a
In a number of other recent incidents and that of their fellow travellers. queue as they waited to use the right over-
passengers have insisted on taking their In the wake of British Airways Flight wing exit.
carry-on baggage off. 2276’s catastrophic engine failure in Las The International Civil Aviation
- January 15, 2009. U.S. Airways Vegas, footage has emerged of passengers Organization (ICAO) requires the
Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River walking away from the smouldering evacuation of passenger aircraft to be
in New York City. During the emergency aircraft, post-emergency evacuation— completed in less than 90 seconds, using
evacuation a passenger takes his suit bag some dragging luggage behind them. only half the exits, to ensure loss of
with him, As the A320 struggles to stay Footage of another emergency life similar to the Los Angeles accident
afloat you can see him out on the wing, the evacuation early in the year, also in the does not happen again. New aircraft
carry-on slung over his shoulder; United States, highlighted the ignorant are rigorously tested to ensure that the
- July 6, 2013. Asiana Flight 214 lands complacency of the general public. 90-second standard is maintained.
short of the runway at San Francisco Despite blaring warnings to ‘Leave Before its certification the Airbus A380
International Airport, semi-cartwheeling your belongings, evacuate left side!’ underwent trial evacuations to ensure
to a near-catastrophic stop. The Boeing passengers can still be seen clutching that all the 873 people on board were able

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