With the countless safety issues that have been occurring as of late in the aviation industry, travelers are likely a bit apprehensive about setting off on trips. Headlining occurrences surely do not help that feeling.
Recently, an urgent and frightening situation occurred on an American Airlines’ flight. A video surfaced that raises questions for avid travelers on the appropriate response to emergencies. This is what flyers should know about the situation with the major airline that had passengers defying the directions of crew members.
THE EMERGENCY SITUATION
The situation occurred in the early afternoon on Friday, July 12. Passengers of an American Airlines flight encountered a unique issue once they had already boarded. The boarded flight number 2045, which was at the San Francisco International Airport, was not even in motion yet when smoke was detected. It was supposed to be headed towards Miami (MIA) but was interrupted by a sudden evacuation.
Near the rear of the plane, a mysterious smoke was starting to fill the cabin. Flyers alerted the crew to the smoke. Passengers could smell the smoke at the back of the plane. This smoke was determined to be coming from a passenger’s bag, which had a laptop in it.
Quickly after pointing out the smoke, the crew asked passengers to calmly exit the plane. Then the smoking bag burst into flames, spread to some seats, and rose to the ceiling. Deplaning was actually much more difficult than what the crew anticipated.
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?
Surprisingly, the commotion was because passengers failed to evacuate quickly and efficiently. Even as the crew instructed flyers to leave the plane as swiftly as possible, they had a different idea of what they should do. Passengers chose to try to grab their carry-on bags instead of deplaning. This reaction was not received well since the crew was attempting to follow safety protocols. Flight attendants shouted at passengers to leave their bags and keep moving forward, which made for a very frantic video account.
The passengers near the back of the cabin could not move up to get to safety since the customers in the front were focusing on getting their things. Other passengers who were stuck began to let out frantic cries as they panicked. Thankfully, the smoking bag, which contained a laptop, was removed by crew members, and all of the passengers were taken to safety. Some people deplaned on the jet bridge while others got out of harm’s way via an emergency slide.
TAKEAWAYS
So many people opted to get their bags from the overhead bin compartment instead of deplaning. The frantic video exposes the priorities of the travelers on the flight and may make viewers question how other passengers would conduct themselves if they were in the same situation.
Despite the ongoing emergency, people were more concerned with their possessions and not their safety or the safety of others. In today’s world, this is a scary revelation since simply flying can feel like a risk.