Outrageous, foolish or not a big deal? Flight BA2276

[Parasondox]

This intro is on strike!! We demand less hours, more money, less bonuses, more overtime, less restrictions, more safety and common sense should be made into a 5 sec vine video. #FuckYouBoris... apparently?

FURY!! OUTRAGE!! ANGER!!... I'll just show you.

British Airways passengers came in for harsh criticism when they were pictured grasping their hand luggage as they evacuated an enflamed plane in Las Vegas. Was that fair?

The plane, bound for London, forced the evacuation of 170 people and 14 people were hospitalised, although they were all later discharged.
People streaming out of the plane were holding purses, flip-flop sandals, rolling bags and shoulder bags.
There was no shortage of Twitter criticism for those who got off the plane laden with luggage. Some accused them of putting lives at risk.

Read the fully story here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34191035

Safety is important. When there is a fire, you calmly leave the area via the fire exit signs and do not take any belongings with you. DO NOT TAKE ANY BELONGINGS WITH YOU!!

Is this a sad sign of being too in love with our possessions or just people clearly do not listen to the safety instructions while on a plane?

Is the outrage warranted or should those on Twitter, the forefront of great communication and respect for fellow humans, calm the down a bit?

What do you think?

Someone is going to bring in some statistics aren't they? If you do, then go for it.

 

[Barbas]

Is the outrage warranted or should those on Twitter, the forefront of great communication and respect for fellow humans, calm the down a bit?

I think Twitter always needs to calm down. That seems like a safe answer.

Yeah, they shouldn't have held things up by taking it with them. None of them were apparently harmed so maybe they just thought, "if it's not an immediately life-threatening fire but the plane might eventually go up anyway, I might as well rescue my bag." I'd be interested to see other, more serious cases in which the same behaviour occurred; I'll bet they're considerably fewer in number.

EDIT: Yep, foolish. Fine them for endangering other passengers' lives.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Passengers? Had you said employees i would agree it's outrageous, because they have training and should know better. Passengers are regular people. Don't expect regular people to follow any kind of code of conduct.

 

[Scarim Coral]

They look somewhat rather casual about it? It's not enough that they got their belonging with them but walking away from it? If I were them, I would of ran like hell! Ok sure the attendants would of told them to remain calm and all but they're in a open space!

 

[tippy2k2]

The problem is that we don't know exactly what went down...

I'm sure there are asshats that were on that flight that deserve the outrage (some of that luggage HAD to have been stored in the overhead bin, which would require them to block the aisle to get) but I know for myself, my backpack is at my feet and even though I'm sure everyone was hurrying out, there's still signs that shit is going down and you're going to have a bit of time before you are able to leave the plane.

Hell, for all we know, the plane showed zero signs of fire inside the cabin and so people just plain didn't take it all that seriously. It's easy for us to know that it could have been bad with this view on the outside but how many fire drills and whatnot have you been through where people just kind of strolled their way around with no sense of purpose or direction? As Scarim points out, they look pretty damn relaxed so I'm more willing to put my money on that then some guy stiff-arming an old lady to make sure he gets to his luggage rather than lets her off the plane...

Note: Granted, I did skim through the article, not fully read it so if I missed the part where flames and smoke were shooting up in the cabin, then my apologies.

 

[Antari]

Paying too much attention to twits on twitter is as dangerous as walking very slowly away from a burning aircraft. So from my perspective none of them are winning any contests. If you weren't there, you DON'T know. Pay attention to your own life, it's the only one you've got.

 

[Rewdalf]

I was traveling recently myself.

All I have to say is, if my carry-on luggage is sitting in my lap and we have to evacuate, it's coming with me.
If the evacuation process is going smoothly, but I find myself standing right next to the overhead bin containing my other luggage and the line isn't moving, that's coming with me too.
If I see someone struggling or attempting to grab theirs as well, I'll help them.

All of this within reason.
Go ahead and toss all the hate you want.

Some people are opportunists. You can choose to take a chance if you're given one, or you can play it safe.
Some people have poor judgment. Those are the people that ruin everything for the opportunists.

If sh*t gets real and you and everyone else needs to get out of there now, I trust that more often than not people will actually use their brain and asses this situation properly...

 

[visiblenoise]

This seems like one of the more calm and reasoned Twitter "outrages." I bet there's a lot of self-righteous indignation that I'm not seeing though.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I never, ever, ever bought the whole "leave your shit behind and just run no matter what". I'm well aware of the dangers of fire, smoke and how quick a fire can spread. If my stuff is within arms reach or on the way out whilst evacuating I'll grab it. I understand employees are responsible for safety of others. But I am also responsible for my own safety. It's on me if I can injured or killed, no one else.

The worry isn't just your own safety though, it's the safety of others too. You're going to get everyone off the plane faster if they're not fumbling around to bring their carry on and overhead items with them, and in a situation where people can die that's going to be the first concern. Also notice that a number of people have their luggage from the overhead bins, which would definitely slow things down quite a bit. Then there's a risk of luggage tearing the evacuation ramps.

This seems like one of the more calm and reasoned Twitter "outrages." I bet there's a lot of self-righteous indignation that I'm not seeing though.

In my experience that's usually how it is. You see articles or stories talking about how people are "flipping out on Twitter", then when you actually check it out you see 99% reasoned and measured criticism

 

[Buckets]

I'm sure if the danger was more imminent then luggage would be the last thing on their minds, however they would probably be climbing over everyone else if it was. You wouldn't get much distance from a plane if the fuel tanks were full, and they decided to go up.

Also as they were heading to the UK, the yanks would probably lock them up for not having a passport, wouldn't want them overstaying would they?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Passengers? Had you said employees i would agree it's outrageous, because they have training and should know better. Passengers are regular people. Don't expect regular people to follow any kind of code of conduct.

It's not about the code of conduct IMO. It's just basic survival instinct. You don't stay in a burning plane to gather your stuff. You exit the plane and you wait for the fire department to extinguish the fire and then you go in and gather your shit if you really care about it so much.

 

[Flames66]

Also as they were heading to the UK, the yanks would probably lock them up for not having a passport, wouldn't want them overstaying would they?

That's an important point. You can't be a human in danger, you "have" to be able to prove who you are and where you're from.

I also disagree with the don't take things with you idea. Yes don't spend ages getting a huge bag out of the overhead thing, but if your shit is right there grab it.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Safety is important. When there is a fire, you calmly leave the area via the fire exit signs and do not take any belongings with you. DO NOT TAKE ANY BELONGINGS WITH YOU!!

When exiting a plane, you take any luggage that you wish to see again with you, airport staff around the world have sticky fingers.

On a more prosaic note, when frightened (I mean, genuinely, sincerely terrified) people tend to revert to the familiar and to habits. When you get off a plane normally, you grab your luggage and carry it with you, so when you get off a plane that's on fire, there will always be a loud siren in your head screaming GET YOUR BAG FIRST because that's what you do when you get off a plane.

I think people are taking a convenient opportunity to judge and gloat over how much smarter/harder/less materialistic they are than the people on that plane. If they (or we) were in the same circumstances I doubt any of them or us would do any better.

 

[Aerosteam]

All those people look pretty calm about what happened. Makes me think that there really wasn't a huge threat to anyone's life.

 

[renegade7]

If I was forced to evacuate a plane, I'd want to at the very least make sure I had my phone and wallet with me. If I needed medical attention I'd want to have my insurance card on me, I'd want to have my ID and/or passport with me, and I'd want to have my phone to let people know that I was safe. A lot of people keep those things in their carry-on, so taking your purse or backpack especially if they're right there under your seat doesn't seem very unreasonable.

All those people look pretty calm about what happened. Makes me think that there really wasn't a huge threat to anyone's life.

That's also a possibility. I've been evacuated from planes two times in my life. The first was due to a brake failure during landing which makes a hideous noise and a lot of smoke but most likely won't hurt anyone, the second was because of cabin decompression right after takeoff where we just turned back around and landed. In neither case was the risk to anyone's life severe or immediate enough to make it dangerous to take an extra few seconds to make sure you have your things with you.

Plus, that was an engine fire, not a cabin fire. There's not nearly the same urgency.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

All those people look pretty calm about what happened. Makes me think that there really wasn't a huge threat to anyone's life.

How would the passengers know though? The engines were on fire, and they were told by the pilot to quickly and calmly leave the plane and leave their luggage behind. They didn't know if the engine could suddenly blow up, they didn't know if the fire or smoke would enter the cabin and harm the people trapped at the back while they were fishing for their luggage in the overhead bins. All they knew was what there was danger, and what the pilot told them to do, which they disregarded.

It ended up being okay, and in 5 minutes they evacuated the plane and put out the fire (so their luggage was probably fine anyways), but there was no way anyone knew things would be alright.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Some things you need to understand about British people;

1: We secretly love it when things go to shit. It enhances and affirms our cynical core. And gives us something other than the terrible state of politics to talk about.

2. We all secretly hate ourselves, perhaps through breeding suppressed, genetic guilt. There is no rush to save ourselves and we value our surrounding possessions/people more; I would not hesitate to rescue an instrument of mine if it meant putting myself in danger. It is worth more than I.

3. We don't rush. And that is hardly a serious, life threatening event. I would hang around merely for a better view of the burning giant sky-vehicle and some marshmellow toasting.

4. Fuck twitter. Off point, I know. But seriously, it is a problem, can it just be called TwitChan from now on?

5. We run out of enthusiasm quickly on these subjects. Yawwwwn*

 

[Sarge034]

If there's fire anywhere even remotely where it shouldn't be on a plane I'm gone. Fuck baggage and to hell with the idiots trying to get theirs. If it's on your lap that's one thing, but those bags would have been in the overhead and that means they held up the evac line to save their shit. That's not cool, especially when they're trapping you on a tube filled with several hundred gallons of jet fuel. People don't realize the initial fire isn't the biggest danger, it's the secondary explosions and fragmentation. Notice the fire on the engine? The fuel is in the wing guys. If that plane went up there's a good chance everyone in the picture would have died. Fragmentation is a *****.